Beethoven Discovered at My Alma Mater

LONDON (Reuters) - A unique manuscript by Ludwig van Beethoven that was lost for more than a century will go on sale in London in December priced at over one million pounds.

Discovered in July at the bottom of a dusty filing cabinet at a religious school in Philadelphia, the manuscript is a work in progress for the composer's Grosse Fuge in B flat major -- one of his most revolutionary works.

"This is an amazing find," said Stephen Roe, head of auction house Sotheby's manuscript department. "The manuscript was only known from a brief description in a catalog in 1890 and it has never before been seen or described by Beethoven scholars."

Not only is the 80-page document a working manuscript for the only piano version of a major work by Beethoven, it is one of his few compositions for a piano duet.

Sotheby's, which will auction the document on December 1, said it was the most important Beethoven manuscript to have come to market in living memory and would prompt a complete reassessment of his works.

It is the second time very rare musical documents have been found by chance at the former Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary -- now renamed the Palmer Theological Seminary. A Mozart manuscript was discovered there in 1990.

"At that time we called it the 'Mozart miracle'. It seems appropriate that this time we are thankful for the 'Beethoven blessing,'" said seminary president Wallace Charles Smith.

Wild, eh? For more information, click the link.

Thought Renewal is Going Weekly

Hey there fellow readers . . .

After connecting with many of you via the Evangelical Bloglines and elsewhere (made some neat friends, too) , and after putting in a huge effort at linking and being linked in order to become a Slithering Reptile in the TTLB ecosystem (if you're a blogger, you know what I'm talking about), I now need to step back for the next couple of months as I get my non-blogging life back to full speed. I'm sure you understand.

What this means is that instead of every other day or so, I'll probably post a book review every week or two from now on. Just to stay fresh. So feel free to visit, but know that Thought Renewal is slowing down this fall and winter. I'll be in touch.

Lyn

American Baptist Exodus

It saddens me to share this information, but in order for me to ask you to pray you need to know a bit of our struggle. Our denomination (The American Baptist Churches, USA) is finally starting to splinter and collapse. I didn't want to see it happen, but I must stand with Biblical Authority and side with the Pacific Southwest Region, which is pulling away from the ABC.

Here's a bit of the press release at ChristianityToday.com (see link below):

The Pacific Southwest region of the American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) has begun defecting in the largest church exodus from any denomination over the presenting issue of homosexuality. Underlying issues, according to leaders, include the authority of Scripture and church discipline....

The ABCUSA officially states that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." However, gay-affirming congregations remain affiliated with the denomination. When conservative regions have disfellowshiped such congregations, those congregations have simply affiliated with a more liberal ABCUSA region.

Why this is a sad time for me is that I helped form a renewal movement in the ABC 13 years ago. We've met, we've implored, we've tried to implement change. But we've not fulfilled our mission. We suspected that one day we would see the demise of our denomination. And now, that day is upon us.

Continue to pray for the many, many evangelical churches in the ABC that remain faithful to the Gospel but are confused about the underlying issues. Some denominational leaders paint this as an issue of power and divisiveness, wheras it truly is a matter of scriptural authority. Will we remain faithful to the whole counsel of God or not?

The Reeds in Mexico

Friends of mine from seminary, Joyce and David Reed, are missionaries in Mexico. Joyce is an incredible writer and posts her journals regularly at our mission page (see link below). Wanted to share a portion of her journal.

Theological School of La Paz

"Alicia Agruel had a dream. She wanted to donate a piece of property to the Baptist Convention of Baja Sur as a site for a Theological School. In the fall of 2002, she donated the property. FBC of Fairbury, IL donated the initial gifts that began the construction project. Mission Group after group followed to add their time and financial resources to the dream. Mexican pastors and laypersons got involved. Crossroads, the English-speaking congregation, offered labor. Everyone participated in the tasks of digging foundations, laying block, smoothing stucco on the walls, painting, wiring for electricity, plumbing the bathrooms, etc. The first classroom was built and completed. The bathrooms were built and completed. And in our last journal article we wrote and told you that the second classroom was completed and the entire property had been walled in by the end of August. Alicia’s dream was unfolding before her eyes."

Thank you, Joyce and David, for helping make those dreams come true.

Friday Tag Party

Decided to tag myself and join the fun after reading this post at Caffeinated Adventures (you can play tag too, see #5 below). Here are the questions:

1. Total number of books you own.
2. What is the last book(s) you bought?
3. What was the last book you read?
4. List 5 books that are particularly meaningful to you (in no particular order).
5. Tag five people.

1. I probably own close to 1000 books. It's been a sickness in our family for a long time.
2. Finally getting around to Harry Turtledove's alternative history featuring reptilian space invaders in WordWar: In the Balance and Tilting the Balance.
3. Finished digesting Four Views On Hell (Stanley Gundrey, editor) with my brother - we read a theological work and discuss it each week over the phone - but I know I've read something since then... Oh, I know, Walker Percy's The Second Coming.
4. Boy, this one's hard, but I'd at least include Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths (Alister McGrath), What's So Amazing About Grace (Philip Yancey), The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis), The Reformed Pastor (Richard Baxter), and the original Foundation Trilogy (Isaac Asimov).
5. Tag. You're it.

PS Comment below with your responses, and especially if you host a tag party at your blog. Plus, I'll add Amazon links so that if you want to buy a book through this site, I'll get credit, wink wink. ;-) lgp