Might as well make it two shameless appeals in a row — that way we get it over quickly, and can get back to the usual programing of all the edifying stuff. And in this shameless appeal, I intend to work two appeals into one, both of them having to do with Federal Vision stuff.
As many of you know, the custom of Credenda has been to send out two fundraising letters a year. I tried to begin posting them here, but it recently occurred to me that I may have forgotten to do this last time. That’s the kind of crackerjack operation we run around here. And so that letter is pasted in below. There should be another one coming out within the next month or so, and I will try to remember to post it. In the meantime, if you want to give to Credenda electronically, you can do so here. Just click on “Donate Online,” and follow the instructions. If you do, thanks much. How does this relate to the Federal Vision? The issue that just went to the printers today is a special edition dedicated to the FV, and it contains (among a number of other articles) the hard copy of the “Joint Federal Vision Profession.” We are printing extras of this one because we think there will be additional demand. In addition to printing, we would also very much like to pay for it, and you can help us with this by going to this link, which is the same as the one above.
The second shameless appeal also concerns the Federal Vision, but is on a larger scale. If you have been following the overall saga, you know that I have written a great deal on that subject here on this blog. I have reviewed books, conferences, interacted with blog posts and statements from seminaries. All told, I have written (as I am told) about 167,000 words under the heading of Auburn Avenue Stuff. We have an opportunity to get this inchoate jumble professionally edited, cleaned up, rearranged, properly footnoted, and published in one fat volume. A highly qualified editor is standing by, pitchfork in hand. This is something we would love to do immediately, but the whole thing (editing, design, layout, and printing costs) would be about 14K. We are sure that we will have that amount someday, but we don’t have it right now because Canon has other worthy projects ahead of this one. So if you know of anyone who recently said to you, “Gosh, I really wish I could do more in this whole debate. But I am not really good with words. All I have is 14K,” would you mind terribly referring them to us? They can do that by writing office@christkirk.com. And thanks much.
Here is the letter I think I forgot to post.
April 2007
Dear Friends of Credenda,
We want to thank you very much for the financial support that you have given to our magazine through the years. We are very grateful.
Inside the front cover we have a Latin inscription—Semper constans, numquam praedici. Translated, this represents what we would like to have be the central characteristic of our writing and publishing—”Always consistent, never predictable.” It is easy to be consistent—all you have to do is fossilize. And it is easy to be unpredictable—just fly into postmodern randomness. To combine the two takes the grace of God, and it is a grace we are hungry for. We hope that this element (to whatever extent we have been successful) is what interests you in our magazine, and we hope it has motivated you to give to keep it coming. So thank you for your part in making this happen.
We believe that it is this kind of Puritanism that we need more of—not the grim caricature of Puritanism in the popular mind, but the Puritanism that made an enormous difference to 16th century England. C.S. Lewis, as always, put it well.
“But there is no understanding the period of the Reformation in England until we have grasped the fact that the quarrel between the Puritans and the Papists was not primarily a quarrel between rigorism and indulgence, and that, in so far as it was, the rigorism was on the Roman side. On many questions, and specially in their view of the marriage bed, the Puritans were the indulgent party; if we may without disrespect so use the name of a great Roman Catholic, a great writer, and a great man, they were much more Chestertonian than their adversaries” (C.S. Lewis, Selected Literary Essays, p. 116).
This
is what we are after—Chestertonian Puritanism. Please pray for us. Our “subscription” system remains pretty simple: We will mail the magazine for several years to anyone who donates any amount to our work. We are grateful to God for the steady support we have received nearly twenty years now. If you would like us to continue with this simple system, there are two ways for you to give. The first is to simply send a check back to us in the enclosed envelope. The second means is to go to our web site and help us out there. Just go to www.credenda.org, click on subscriptions, and follow the directions.
Thank you once again for your kind and generous support.
Cordially in Christ,
Douglas Wilson