Call It Faculty Development
Westminster Theological Seminary in Britain
--
Please note that the Tour was, due in part (I feel sure) to world conditions,
cancelled for 2003,and, sadly, due largely to an unfavorable exchange rate, the tour has also been cancelled for 2005!!
I am leaving this site up, and hope to do further work on it, because it was such a wonderful tour....
EHD
Elmer H. Duncan
Professor of Philosophy
Baylor University
P.O. Box 97274
Waco, TX., 76798
254/710-3368
Email:Elmer_Duncan@baylor.edu
Teachers try to improve themselves in various ways. For several years,
I have taught a graduate seminar in Philosophy on
"Hume and his Critics"(note that this "syllabus"for my course is largely
a bibliographical essay. If you do not have a good philosophical library on
hand, you might want to scroll down to the last section,"There is More Help
on the Web"). I also did a bibliographical study on "American
Moral Philosophy in the 19th Century"-with lots of links-that you might
want to take a look at,just to see the strong Scottish influence. Since
David Hume was Scottish, I traveled to Scotland, and England, several times.
Hume grew up in a certain religious tradition, later rebelled against it, and
his first critics may be said to have been reaffirming that tradition. With
that in mind, my wife and I have taken four study tours to Britain, sponsored
by the Westminster Theological Seminary. The tour has the official title, "The
Institute on the Religious Roots of America: The
British Backgrounds.". The tour group is led by Dr.
Samuel T. Logan (You can hear one of
his lectures, though I prefer an
address he gave in 1999 on Church History, for a Missions Conference), and
wife Susan. Dr. Logan is President (and Professor of Church History) at Westminster
Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.
There are additional lectures on Scottish church history by Dr.
Sinclair Ferguson (If you have the proper software,you can hear a number
of audio tapes by Sinclair
Ferguson). In 2003, the Logans will be assisted by Rev. Michael Sharrett,
Senior Pastor of Fort Worth Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Rev.
Sharrett will preach for the group on the two Sundays of the tour, in St.
Andrews and Cambridge.
Recently, I have been impressed--to say the least--by the amount of material--information,
pictures, etc.--available on the World Wide Web, relevant to this tour, and,
indeed, any tour (guided or not) of this general type. For anyone interested
in this sort of tour, perhaps the material gathered here may be of some use.Two
small warnings are in order. First, I have put together links to more information
than anyone could possibly use, so readers (if any) may follow their own interests,
and pick and choose. There is no reason to think your interests will coincide
with mine. Second, I have really tried to keep the links up to date, but (notoriously)
websites may be changed, moved, or simply taken down. For that reason, I have
often put in more than one link leading to the same (or much the same) information...if
the first link doesn't work, the second might.
Where to begin? Since this tour is led by people from the Westminster Theological
Seminary--President and Mrs.(Susan) Logan--I would begin by asking: Who are
these people? Westminster Theological Seminary
has a superb, user-friendly website. Check it out. Look at their faculty,
go over course syllabi, visit their bookstore on-line, etc. It will become
clear, for example, that the school sets great store by the Westminster
Confession of Faith--you can access the entire text. Check out the Seminary's
splendid "Resource Links." If you wish, you can even check
me out on the Baylor University website. Oh, perhaps I should add that
I am an Elder at Central Presbyterian
Church (PCUSA), Waco,Texas.
So what else can be done in advance?
- First, this is a study tour, and, in 1997, I managed to do some
reading in advance. I always keep a journal, and the reading was summarized
in what I call a "
Preface and More", written for the '97 journal, and I added a 1999 update.
See what you think; you are not required to agree with me. For 2001, I added
"How about
a few more pictures, and some stories??"- not as scholarly
as the "Preface," but hope people enjoy it.
- Second, you might want to access an
Interactive map of Great Britain, with links to some of the cities the
tour will visit, just to become oriented as to where the various cities
are in relation to one another.
- Third, you can check out four-day Weather
forecasts for most of the places the tour will visit. Dr. Logan always
tries to tell us how cool (cold?) it can be, even in Summer, in Scotland,
and many refuse to believe him ...and regret it.
- Fourth, it could be fun to take a look at Scotland's best newspaper, the
SCOTSMAN, published in Edinburgh, to see what the Brits, especially
the Scots, are talking about just now. As an alternate plan, check to see
what's new on the BBC (You can even
go directly to BBC-Scotland!).
And now the tour is underway. The schedule offered here is tentative and
unofficial. But other years have had similar schedules, so this should
be close enough.
Day One--Monday, July 7. The group leaves Dallas
or Newark to fly to Glasgow, Scotland.
Day Two--Tuesday, July 8. The group arrives in Glasgow.
Welcome
to Scotland!!
The city of Glasgow is worth a visit, but the group will not stay there,
but journeys at once to
St. Andrews.(look under "Historic Day Out.").
Day Three--Wednesday, July 9. The group attends lectures,
then tours St. Andrews
; be sure to see the castle!
On the Cathedral
grounds, you may want to seek out the final resting places of the great Scottish
preachers, Samuel Rutherford
and Thomas
Halyburton . { If that connection fails,
this pdf. file won't}.You can find a
history of the city and information concerning the
University on the web. Under hotels, find pictures of the
Old Course (where the group will have a "high tea")-you might want to
check out a skycam
view from the roof of the hotel.
Since Scotland (and especially St. Andrews) is the home of golf, you will
want to see the "Royal and Ancient", and
the 18th green of
the Old Course.
Day Four--Thursday, July 10. The group goes to Edinburgh
for the day. Begin your virtual tour with "Edinfo,"
the University of Edinburgh information service. They seem to have links to
just about everything. But there are many other sites for Edinburgh.
.You might want to begin by taking a look at Webcam
views of various parts of the city. The group will visit Edinburgh
Castle, and it is easy to find pictures on the web.As you enter the castle
grounds, note the statues of Scottish heroes
Robert
the Bruce and
Sir William
Wallace.--on either side of the main gate. You will also want to read
about Mary,
Queen of Scots, and about her son, James
(King James VI in the
Scottish line, James I in the British line of kings,of King
James Bible fame- he was born in a small apartment of the castle- in 1566).
The group will also visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse,
at the other end of the Royal Mile. Since Holyroodhouse is a royal
residence, you can also read about it-and see some smashing pictures!-on the
British Monarchy website.
There is much too much to see, but you should also have a look, nearby,
at the site of the new Scottish
Parliament!
Back to Schedule
Arguably, the most important church in Scotland is the "High Kirk"of St.
Giles, where John
Knox preached. But this group will be just as interested in the
Greyfriars churchyard, where
the National
Covenant was signed in1638 (the
Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 may also be found on this website). Another
important stop on the tour is the Magdalen
Chapel. I cannot prove the
Scots Confession of 1560 was written in this chapel, but tradition has it
that the first General Assembly of the Church of Scotland met there that same
year.
Had we but world enough and time...it would be good to visit Jenners
Department Store and the James Thin Book
Store. The Scots are also proud of their new National
Museum of Scotland. And art lovers will want to visit the various National
Galleries.
A final major stop in Edinburgh for this tour group is the Free
Church College. The Free Church has a marvelous website, with links to all
sorts of information which would be difficult to locate elsewhere. There is
much available on Thomas
Chalmers, the first moderator of the Free Church (Actually, you can find
more about Thomas Chalmers
on other sites as well..). They also have a "library" link with several books
available on-line. For example, John Macleod's
Scottish Theology in Relation to Church History gives an account
which is very similar to Sinclair Ferguson's lectures on the subject . And since
this tour is about the roots of American religious thought, it could be interesting
to see how the founding of the Free Church was viewed on our side of the pond...see
the article in the
Princeton Review (January,1844). Archibald Alexander had high praise for
the clergy of the new church in his review/article on "The
Free Church Pulpit",The Princeton Review (January,1849). Or read about the
influence of the Scots on the "old" Princeton theology {This pdf.
file was put together from three articles in The Free Presbyterian Magazine}..
Day Five--Friday, July 11. The early schedule says
there will be lectures by Dr. Ferguson on (among other things) the Covenanters,
the rise of Moderatism in Scotland, and the life and work of John Witherspoon
{You might want to "prep" for these: There is a church that traces its roots
to the Covenanters.You can
read what John Macleod had to say about the Moderates.
Princeton University supplies an account of the life
of John Witherspoon, or read what James
McCosh thought of him....you will need to scroll down to Ch. XXIII}. I
should have noted earlier that, at some point, Sinclair Ferguson will discuss
Fox's Book of Martyrs.
After the morning lectures, the afternoon is given over to
visiting Falkland
Palace, and the fishing villages of Anstruther
and Pittenweem.
Anstruther was the birthplace of Thomas Chalmers.
Back to Schedule
Day Six--Saturday, July 12. The group will visit Stirling.
Since this is a church crowd, one of our first stops is the
Church of the Holy Rude (where the infant James was crowned king of Scotland).
Also check out the story of Robert the Bruce and the Battle
of Bannockburn. And, of course, the group will visit Stirling
Castle. Begin with a Webcam
picture of the castle...wow!
This might be the place to pause and admit that most Americans have been schooled
in English history, but not (usually) in Scottish history. There is a site on
the web called "Rampant
Scotland" that has a history section. There is material on this site for
virtually all the Scottish historical events discussed on this tour,
or at least the Scottish part of the tour. It is less complete, but a good alternate
history and culture source is
Electric Scotland. I have checked these sites, and also Chatelaine's
List of Castles, and have to admit that I found less than I had hoped on
Stirling Castle
and the Battle
of Bannockburn...perhaps more will turn up later...Well, you may have to
dig a little for it, but there is some good stuff on Stirling
(and elsewhere), in a site called "Cameron's
Gateway to Scottish History". Finally, we can learn a great deal, see a
video, and buy cards and books at the
Bannockburn Heritage Center, and, from the castle, look across the valley
to see the magnificient
Wallace Monument.
If further inspiration is required, read
"Bruce's address at Bannockburn," as recorded by Robert Burns (was
he there?). Serious students of Scottish history will want to consult a related
document, the Declaration
of Arbroath of 1320.
Back to Schedule
Day Seven--Sunday, July 13. A day of worship in St.
Andrews.The group will worship together at the historic Chapel
of St. Salvator's College, at the University of St. Andrews. Be sure to
read the history
of the Chapel-incredible!!
Day Eight--Monday, July 14. A travel day.En route,
the group will visit Culloden.
Culloden, near Inverness,
was the scene of the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie's (more formally, that's
Prince Charles
Edward Stuart) army in April of 1746; read a complete account of the battle,
and its tragic aftermath. But at least the "Bonnie Prince" escaped;
listen to the "Skye
Boat Song." The group will spend the night at the Milton
Palace Hotel in Inverness.
Oh, cruel is the snow that
sweeps Glencoe
And covers the grave o' Donald;
Oh, cruel was the foe that raped Glencoe
And murdered the house of MacDonald.
Back to Schedule
Day Nine--Tuesday, July 15."On the road again.:"
We head south to visit Loch Ness, and then Glencoe. Urquhart
Castle, on Loch Ness, has a website with pictures of both the castle and
the "Loch," but none of "Nessie,"
the Loch Ness Monster. More seriously, you will want to read
an account of the massacre of Glencoe, which took place in 1692. The group
reaches Oban, where we
catch a ferry for the isle of Mull,
and then to the town of Tobermory
(see a virtual panoramic tour!!)----check a second, related
Tobermory site!!----where we stay the next two nights.
Back to Schedule
Day Ten--Wednesday, July 16. Much of this day will
be spent on water. At some point, hopefully, you will get a good look at Duart
Castle, stronghold of the Macleans (remember Sean Connery's hideaway in
"Entrapment"-that's it!). Travel across the island of Mull, then another short
voyage to the sacred isle of Iona--there
is also a website offering virtual tours
of Iona!!--where St.Columba
(you may wish to read the Life
of St. Columba by Adamnan) came to build an
Abbey in 563 A.D. For the Scots, there is no more sacred place. Lunch will
be served at the St. Columba
Hotel.
Day Eleven--Thursday, July 17. Travel back across
to the northeast side of Britain, passing near the "Bonnie
Banks" of Loch Lomond, then (Wait!--check the "webcam"
for the Loch!!) we leave Scotland (sadly), and visit the other
"holy isle" of Lindisfarne, famous
for the Lindisfarne
Gospels. Their website has pictures of the old abbey, the castle, the village,
and even pictures and prices for Celtic jewelry and Lindisfarne mead. On the
way, the group will stop, at about 10:30 a.m., to visit the lovely town of Inveraray
(if that connection fails, try
this one). There is a castle in
Inveraray that might reward a visit.
There is also a website with excellent pictures of the Lord
Crewe Arms Hotel where the group will stay for two nights in Blanchland.
It's wonderful!!
Back to Schedule
Day Twelve--Friday, July 28 .Durham,
with its cathedral, is the destination today. The Durham
Cathedral website has a virtual tour of the cathedral, links to the castle
and the university, etc. The cathedral houses the mortal remains of St.
Cuthbert and the Venerable
Bede. Anyone unsure of their histories will find biographies on this website,
and can access the text of Bede's Ecclesiastical
History of the English Nation. Philosophers will pause near the choir to
see the plaque for Joseph
Butler, who was Bishop of Durham the last years of his life, 1750-1752.
Day Thirteen--Saturday, July 19. Much of this day
is spent travelling through the Yorkshire
Dales, well known to most of us through the works of James
Herriot . Later in the day, the group visits York. York's history, and its
cathedral, are almost beyond imagination. As seems to happen in England, two
websites are needed. The one for the cathedral
covers its subject well, and has useful links.But the York
city site is also worth consulting to complete the picture. York has some
of the best shopping on the entire tour ; one of our favorite places is the
Mulberry Hall (really fine
China and crystal!). Time permitting, the Jorvik
Viking Center is worth a visit, for York's rich Viking past. My wife and
I seem always to be caught in the rain in York and have found a pleasant refuge
in the excellent, and underrated, York
City Art Museum.
Back to Schedule
Day Fourteen--Sunday, July 20.. Last
evening, the group arrived at their dorm in Christ's
College, Cambridge. Christ's has its own website, with links to just about
everything else at the University of Cambridge . As might have been expected,
the link to King's College has a smashing
picture of their magnificent chapel.You certainly will want to explore more
of Cambridge: you might
begin by viewing a Cambridge
Panorama . In the dining room used by the tour group at Christ's College,
Cambridge, there is sort of a head table; on the wall behind it are portraits
of four men who served as Masters of the college:
You may wish to brush up a bit on these four, perhaps with special
attention being given to Paley's
Natural Theology.
On Sunday, the group worships together in the
Chapel of Christ's College. The music at our 1997 service there was really
special. This group is made up of church people, and by their second worship
service, they usually find they really can make a truly joyful sound together.
Time has passed since1997, but I wonder if I will ever be able to hear "Great
is Thy Faithfulness" without tears.
Day Fifteen--Monday, July 21. The day is given over
to lectures on church history by Dr. Logan. Readers may wish to examine a small
sample of Dr. Logan's thoughts on "The
Pilgrims and Puritans." Mentioned above were the "Resource Links"
on the Westminster Theological Seminary website; one of my favorites is the
"Hall of Church History,"
clearly relevant here. The "Hall" has a section on the Puritans,
and Dr. Logan will want us to know all about:
!
Back
to Schedule
Day Sixteen--Tuesday, July 22. Lectures continue in
the morning, dealing with the role of
John Locke and others in the development of English
Deism. Since Locke was a major figure in Philosophy, you may wish to examine
a Locke Bibliography.
.Some of Locke's works (including the Essay
Concerning Human Understanding, of 1690) are available on the web. Of these,
probably most relevant to this group is his "Letter
Concerning Toleration," of 1689. Somehow, we do usually get
around to Locke's political views, so you might want to check out three of my
lectures on "Locke and
the Second Treatise."
Later in the day, the group will visit Bury
St. Edmunds (If the connection fails, try this
one-marvelous pictures!!). It was there a group of barons met to put together
a petition to King John--which led to theMagna
Carta. . You might also be interested in a short Catholic Encyclopedia
article on The Abbey of
Bury St. Edmunds. Again, check out the links to Lavenham.
In Lavenham, under "Where to eat," find a picture of the Great
House, where the group has dinner. Finally, the group visits the old church
in Groton; John Winthrop
left there to become the first governor of Massachusetts, back in the seventeenth
century (Dr. Logan will quote from Winthrop's "A
Model of Christian Charity").
Back to Schedule
Day Seventeen--Wednesday, July 35. It's off to
London. Rule
Britannia!! There is a site, "Londontown.com,"
which has all the latest on what's on, what's new, etc.There are also several
Webcam views
available of different parts of the city. Check out the Royal
Family's own site with info on the royal residences, including Buckingham
Palace, and, back in Scotland, the Palaces at Holyroodhouse and Balmoral. This
study group will be more interested in Westminster
Abbey with a tour featuring a long look at the
Jerusalem Chamber, where the Westminster Confession was written--more than
350 years ago (read
about it!!). Normally, the group will not visit, but will see the exterior
of St. Paul's Cathedral.
The group will then have lunch near Trafalgar
Square; you can also see a webcam view of Trafalgar
Square (and if your recollection of the Battle
of Trafalgar is a bit weak.... ). Last time, I felt that a full (very!)
English breakfast was enough, so I skipped lunch {Note: most of the tour group
will have lunch in the cafe in the crypt of the St.
Martin-in-the-Fields Church...}, and walked over to the National
Gallery--wonderful exhibits! After lunch, the group will visit the Tower
of London. If we are fortunate, we will get to visit the cell in which
Sir Thomas More was imprisoned. Again, I suggest a change. Most of the group
will stand in line to see the crown
jewels. Save your money, and your time (after all, the Scottish Regalia,
on exhibit at Edinburgh Castle, is much older). Instead, walk over to the White
Tower, completed about 1097, and go upstairs to the old Norman Chapel
of St. John- simple, maybe even austere--but awesome!! On
this busy day, there will not be time to visit the United
Kingdom Parliament, or do your shopping at Harrods
or at Fortnum
& Mason....pity. It would also be great to have time to do justice
to London theatre,
possibly the best in the world!!
Back to Schedule
Day Eighteen--Thursday, July 24. Ely
(on this site, I suggest you ignore the commercial stuff, and look under "history")
is a very special city!! Ely
Cathedral can be difficult to photograph, but walk to the center of the
cathedral, look up, and ask yourself, "How did they do that--with
no power tools at all ???" Ely
Cathedral (on this site, click on "Inside Ely Cathedral-in Pictures"!!)
is a wonder of engineering, even today!!
The tour group will also visit the Cromwell
Museum this day!
Day Nineteen--Friday, July 25. This a free day, so
scholars will want to visit the area book stores, especially the Cambridge
University Press store, and Waterstone's.
Others may wish to travel to Norwich
to see yet one more impressive cathedral. By tradition, the group gathers
at the end of the day, in the Master's Garden of Christ's College, for a group
picture.
Day Twenty--Saturday, July 26. A chartered coach takes
the group to their London
airport, for the long flight home.
Back to Schedule
Thus ends our virtual tour. I feel certain that my readers (if any) will say
that the old cliche is correct, "You just had to be there." Dr. Logan
is right; there is no substitute for going to these places, no substitute for
the worship experiences, the fellowship, just the feel of Great Britain.
I am not an employee of the Westminster Seminary, but my wife and I give this
tour a high rating. Why? A one-word answer is its focus. Dr. Logan
makes no attempt to go everywhere, see everything, do it all. This is history
read, and a story told, from a certain point of view. Clearly, it is a point
of view that I find appealing, instructive, and persuasive. I do not expect
that everyone will agree. But philosophers--and perhaps theologians, too--now
recognize that objectivity is a will-of-the-wisp. Everybody is--as the young
people say--"coming from" somewhere; we all have our presuppositions.
And we cannot see--or do--it all, certainly not in less than three weeks, no
matter how frantically we try.
Close with a personal note. I have never left Britain--not even on this "virtual
tour"--with that feeling of bored finality, "Been there, done that." Instead,
there is always the lingering, haunting, question:
"Will
ye nae come back again?"
EHD
