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Controversy in the letters page of EN regarding the new Praise! hymn book has set some historical alarm bells ringing. It seems that there is nothing new under the sun . . .

Since the Reformation1 protestant churches have divided, rancorously, over musical matters with depressing regularity. At different times, all manner of issues have caused bitter dispute. Often a conservative old guard opposed 'dangerous innovations'. Usually the dangerous innovation soon became general practice, and the oceans of print spilled over its introduction were completely forgotten. Below are listed some of the arguments that have raged over singing in church down the centuries.

This year has marked the 150th anniversary of modern spiritualism whose official birthday was March 31 1848 at Hydesville, New York State, in the family of the Fox sisters. How do we now assess that movement in the light of Scripture and history?

Although the craze, like so many, began in America, spirit messages were already quite common among mesmerists in France and elsewhere in the 1840s. In fact, mediumship may be as old as the Fall, and there is, of course, one seance in Scripture, King Saul's visit to the woman of En-Dor.

Known to his friends as 'Jack' (he didn't like 'Clive Staples'), C.S. Lewis was born on the outskirts of Belfast on November 29 1898, and died in his Oxford home, The Kilns, almost 65 years later on November 22 1963.

He was equally a scholar and a storyteller, for years an Oxford don, and then Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge.

SETTING OFF FOR A NEW WORLD?

Have you ever dreamed of a new world? It would be a world where there is peace and justice for all. It would be a world without pain or death, where there is joy and dignity for everyone. Many men and women cherish such hopes. People even have a name for that world. We call it 'heaven'. But can such a world be found?

The desire to make a better world has shaped the outlook of many people - teachers, doctors, politicians - of good intent as they have set out on their careers. Yet though there have been great advances through technology and medicine, a new world of joy and justice - heaven on earth - always eludes us.

'When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.' (Matthew 5.1-3).

I was a student in 1970 at the time when students were revolting! In many university campuses around the world then, students were known for their radical idealism.

An old Russian proverb says: 'He who lives in the past loses one eye; but he who forgets the past loses both eyes'. This is the first of a regular column over the next few months giving short biographies of some great evangelical leaders of the past.

Henry Venn is little-known nowadays. His story is not dramatic, but in his time he was much used by Christ and he has some useful lessons for us in 1997.

In the US recently, I found myself 'channel-hopping' in an effort to locate a serious programme.

Eventually, I came across one that seemed to be what I was looking for: three newsreaders giving an oversweep on the week's world events. However, the longer I watched, the clearer it became that this programme was not quite what I had expected.