J.I. Packer.
-(1926-2020)
-Priest and Theologian
-Anglican
J.I. Packer (James Innell Packer) was an Anglican priest and theologian. He was educated at The University of Oxford, where he started reading the Puritans and heard lectures by C.S. Lewis, whose teachings significantly influenced his life. C.S. Lewis was a Universalist, which may explain Packer’s later alliance with Roman Catholics (signing the Evangelicals and Catholics Together and Manhattan Declaration controversial documents). Packer became a prominent leader in the Evangelical movement within the Church of England. For a brief time, he sat under the teaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel. He later served as warden and honorary president of Latimer House in Oxford, an evangelical research center he founded with John Stott. His association with Stott, who was a proponent of social justice and ecumenism with those who did not believe the true gospel, may have also influenced Packer’s decision to sign the problematic documents, Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) and Manhattan Declaration. Packer had contrary applications in his own dealings with Roman Catholicism, and he has not been a reliable guide for Evangelicals. The Packer, who helped Evangelicals see and appreciate “the logic of penal substitution,” did not allow them to see “the logic of Christian unity” similarly. He was inconsistent. The Packer who so helpfully unpacked the riches of an Evangelical “systematic spirituality” did not help to appreciate its implications in the area of ecumenism. Although Packer received much criticism for signing the errant ECT and Manhattan Declarations, he also signed the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. He was a member of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood advisory board, both solid, biblical organizations.
A Tribute to J.I. Packer (article) - J.I. Packer was one of the most beloved evangelical Christian leaders of the 20th century. 2005 Time magazine named him one of the top 25 most influential evangelicals. If there were a Biblical Inerrancy Hall of Fame, Jim Packer would undoubtedly be in it! He certainly belongs in the top ten (or perhaps even the top four) of scholars who championed biblical inerrancy in the last half of the 20th century.
Time With God: An Interview With J.I. Packer (article) - read John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, both parts, once a year. I do that; I don’t see why you shouldn’t. Dip into Luther and Calvin and know whether you like them. Liking does play a big part, I think, in the appreciation of both. Some find both of them difficult, and some find both of them enormously congenial. Try yourself out by dipping into both of them.
Sola Fide: The Reformed Doctrine of Justification by J.I. Packer (article) - justification by faith only, as Reformed Christians know, is “a gospel mystery,” a revealed secret of God that is a wonder of grace, transcending human wisdom and indeed contradicting it. No wonder it is repeatedly misunderstood objected to, or twisted out of shape!
Obituary: The Revd Professor J. I. Packer (article) - Packer played a leading part in convening the National Evangelical Anglican Congress at the University of Keele in 1967. This event, now seen as a landmark in the history of Evangelicalism in the Church of England, led to many Evangelicals moving away from their more traditional isolationism and becoming more active in and committed to the structures and ethos of the Church of England. This realignment was not tricky, creating ambiguity about what it meant to “be Anglican” and “be Evangelical.” At a more personal level, it led to a painful alienation between Packer and Lloyd-Jones.
Why I Walked: Sometimes Loving a Denomination Requires You to Fight (article) - In June 2002, the synod of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster authorized its bishop to produce a service for blessing same-sex unions to be used in any parish of the diocese that requests it. Many synod members walked out to protest the decision. They declared themselves out of communion with the bishop and the synod, and they appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Anglican primates and bishops for help. J.I. Packer was one such member who walked out. He shares his story here.
Why J.I. Packer signed “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” (article) - In the whole area of how to relate the Evangelical faith with conservatives of other Christian traditions (i.e., Anglo-Catholics, Roman Catholics, traditional Eastern Orthodox), he has not been a reliable guide for Evangelicals. The Packer, who helped Evangelicals see and appreciate “the logic of penal substitution,” did not allow them to see “the logic of Christian unity” in the same helpful way. He was inconsistent, to say the least.
Theology and doctrine often have a reputation for being dry and academic. J.I. Packer argues that genuine theology gives us life and purpose, even amid arduous circumstances.
Dr Packer was one of the three great giants of 20th-century evangelicalism. He gave us robust confidence in the authority of the word of God and taught us the crucial importance of evangelism. Packer’s book Fundamentalism and the Word of God (1958) was life-changing for many. His book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (1961) demonstrated how a clear Reformed theology, emphasizing God’s sovereignty in all things, not least in salvation, went hand in hand with a confident and gracious evangelism.
This conversation between Dr. Jeff Greenman and Dr. J.I. Packer was recorded in front of a live audience in Regent's Chapel in the Summer of 2016. The occasion was the celebration of Dr. Packer's 90th birthday.
Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two critical facets of the Christian faith―knowing about God and knowing God through a close relationship with Jesus Christ. Written in an engaging and practical tone, this thought-provoking work seeks to renew and enrich our understanding of God.
This modern classic provides a comprehensive statement of the doctrine of Scripture from an evangelical perspective. J. I. Packer explores the meaning of the word "fundamentalism" and offers a clear and well-reasoned argument for the authority of the Bible and its proper role in the Christian life.
If God is in control of everything, can Christians sit back and not bother to evangelize? Or does active evangelism imply that God is not really sovereign at all? J. I. Packer shows how both of these attitudes are false. In a careful review of the biblical evidence, he shows how a right understanding of God's sovereignty is not so much a barrier to evangelism as an incentive and powerful support for it.
Anglican theologian J.I. Packer makes the case that “authentic Anglicanism” is biblical, liturgical, evangelical, pastoral, episcopal (ordaining bishops), national (engaging with the culture), and ecumenical (eager to learn from other Christians). As he surveys the history and tensions within the Anglican Church, Packer casts a vision for the future grounded in the Scriptures, fueled by missions, guided by historical creeds and practices, and resolved to enrich its people.
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