The Manifesto of the Reformation

The Manifesto of the Reformation
Luther vs. Erasmus on Free Will

The clash between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus over the issue of free will is “one of the most famous exchanges in western intellectual history”…

Read the article by Lee Gatiss (editor of The Theologian) via the PDF file here (direct link).

Reformation Day

It’s Reformation Day, and over at the Sola Panel, Sandy Grant has posted links to some useful resources.

See also our post from earlier this week.

Traditions Old and New

In the Reformation the leaders of the day had to work out what to change and what to retain. With some things it was easy, because the need to change screamed out. But falling for the temptation to change everything led to some terrible follies and abuses.

It was the wisdom of Thomas Cranmer, which guided the Church of England through the Reformation changes. He did not accomplish all that he wanted to do. However, in 1549 he laid down some principles upon which he was working…

– Phillip Jensen wrote in last weekend’s Cathedral newsletter.

True Woman conference audio online

Audio and text files of the talks given at the 2008 True Woman Conference, held in the Chicago area earlier this month, are now online.

Speakers include Mary Kassian, Joni Eareckson Tada and John Piper.

The talks are available at True Woman.

Arguing for GAFCON

Bishop Wallace Benn Wallace Benn and Mark Burkill respond to Iain Murray

The Christian work and fellowship started by GAFCON in Jerusalem in June 2008 has only just begun.

We are well aware that it faces plenty of dangers and obstacles as it seeks to renew the Anglican Communion in the work of the gospel. We know that it has already been misunderstood in various quarters. This may lead some to hesitate about supporting it. That is why we want to respond to the particular misunderstandings and historical errors that are stated in the article by Iain Murray in the September 2008 issue of EN, although both of us have enormously appreciated books he has written over the years…

– Wallace Benn and Mark Burkill in Evangelicals Now – in response to ‘The Church of England in crisis’ by Iain Murray.

(Photo of Bishop Wallace Benn at GAFCON: Peter Frank.) h/t Anglican Mainstream.

How others see us: What’s up Down Under?

“The recent decision of the Diocesan Synod of Sydney, in the Anglican Church of Australia, to allow the administration of Holy Communion—i.e., the celebration of the Eucharist—by deacons and eventually laity seems outlandish to many overseas Anglicans. It makes considerably more sense within the context of Australian Anglicanism, which has a very different history than The Episcopal Church (TEC) and its various offshoots (I will get to that later). Australian Anglicanism is exceptionally diverse as a result of that history, and its diversity has led the Anglican Church of Australia to adopt a unique pattern of organization.

Just as some Episcopalians are frustrated when other Anglicans cannot understand TEC’s particular form of synodical governance, so I expect Australians feel when outsiders try to apply their own context to matters Down Under. I write the following as an American outsider, but one who has long been fascinated enough by the local variations on the common Anglican theme to make a study of them. (I hope that any Australians who read this will take the trouble to correct my inevitable mistakes by commenting below.)…”

– A thoughtful piece by Dale Rye in Covenant. (Photo: Covenant.)
Hat tip: Anglican Mainstream.

‘Christless Christianity’ reviewed

“I am not arguing in this book that we have arrived at Christless Christianity,” says Horton, “but that we are well on our way. … My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for ‘relevant’ quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms; God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshipped and trusted…”