Richard Johnson’s Address to the Inhabitants of New South Wales
(This is a re-post from 2011.)
This Australia Day, pause to give thanks for the Rev. Richard Johnson, Chaplain to the First Fleet and first Chaplain to the Colony of New South Wales.
In 1792, Johnson wrote a tract designed to be distributed widely in the Colony. He gives his reasons for doing so:
“My Beloved,
I do not think it necessary to make an apology for putting this Address into your hands; or to enter into a long detail of the reasons which induced me to write it.
One reason may suffice. I find I cannot express my regard for you, so often, or so fully, as I wish, in any other way.
On our first arrival in this distant part of the world, and for some time afterwards, our numbers were comparatively small; and while they resided nearly upon one spot, I could not only preach to them on the Lord’s day, but also converse with them, and admonish them, more privately.
But since that period, we have gradually increased in number every year (notwithstanding the great mortality we have sometimes known) by the multitudes that have been sent hither after us. The colony already begins to spread, and will probably spread more and more every year, both by new settlements formed in different places under the crown, and by a number of individuals continually becoming settlers. Thus the extent of what I call my parish, and consequently of my parochial duty, is enlarging daily. On the other hand, my health is not so good, nor my constitution so strong, as formerly. And therefore I feel it impracticable, and impossible for me, either to preach, or to converse with you so freely, as my inclination and affection would prompt me to do.
I have therefore thought it might be proper for me, and I hope it may prove useful to you, to write such an address as I now present you with…”
Johnson’s warm pastoral tone, and his urgent call to trust Christ and to turn from sin, are clearly evident in this Address. Download An Address to The Inhabitants of The Colonies Established in New South Wales and Norfolk Island as a PDF file here. It would be a good way to spend part of Australia Day.
Knox/Robinson for today
“You might be unfamiliar with the term ‘Knox/Robinson’, but you may well have come across the substance of these two men’s teaching if you’ve ever looked into the doctrine of church.
Observers of Anglicanism in Sydney have often remarked on a confident and distinctive approach to the nature and purpose of church, led by such men as Howard Mowll, TC Hammond, Marcus Loane, Donald Robinson and Broughton Knox. The source of this approach is undoubtedly the teaching of Donald Robinson and Broughton Knox at Moore College from the early 1950s until the early 1980s, though both men denied they were teaching anything unusual and could point to others who were saying similar things.
For us, nearly thirty years after the last published piece by either of them, how should we respond to the theological legacy of Donald Robinson and Broughton Knox? …”
– Read Mark Thompson’s paper at The Briefing.
The Lure of Rome
Dr. Robert Godfrey, Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary California, speaks about why some evangelicals and other Protestants in the US are becoming Roman Catholics.
35 minute interview here. (h/t Ligonier Ministries.)
New Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts
In March 2011, Dr Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge, gave a public lecture at The Lanier Theological Library in Houston.
His topic: New Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts. The 62 minute video is well worth watching.
Christmas — Myth or History?
Bishop Paul Barnett responds to an article in last weekend’s newspaper.
“So don’t let the sceptics and atheists take away your hope.”
“You cannot but be impressed with the zeal of the modern sceptic and reciprocally unimpressed with the lethargy of the contemporary Christian. Right on track the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend (3rd December, 2011) has a lengthy and well-researched article, ‘Divine Intervention’ (Fenella Souter) in which she debunks the historical basis for the first Christmas.
Her two main arguments are that there are only two gospel accounts and that they are contradictory, with the addition of many fictional details…”
– Read the full article on Paul Barnett’s website.
Update: If it comes in handy, here’s a PDF version formatted to suit a double-sided A4 sheet.
From Reformation to Revival
Lee Gatiss has been speaking in Cambridge at the ‘Saturday School of Theology’ on the theme ‘From Reformation to Revival’.
The audio of the first two sessions is now available, with the third to come. Below are the descriptions of each session: Read more
The Sydney Family Album — 8, Howard Mowll
“It really is rather hard to overplay the contribution of Howard Mowll to the shape and character of the contemporary Anglican Diocese of Sydney.
His election as Archbishop in April 1933 was a critical moment in the diocese’s history, a decision for its evangelical heritage rather than the more eclectic theology others were advocating at the time. His tenure of the office during World War II and the equally critical post-war years set directions, embedded principles and fostered a new generation of leaders who enabled Sydney Anglicanism to remain unambiguously Protestant and evangelical while engaging seriously with the challenges of a new era…”
– Mark Thompson continues his series on those who shaped Sydney Diocese.
Some recent books on Church History
“It remains as important as ever for the church not to lose sight of where it has come from, to be inspired by the great examples of the past as well warned by the mistakes that we are in danger of repeating.”
– Lee Gatiss reviews seven recent books on church history to see how solid and how useful they might be for the church, in Churchman.
His Story is History and History is His Story
“Tacitus the great historian of First Century Rome leaves us in no doubt about the main historical outlines of the New Testament. Tacitus, a leading politician and a provincial governor, reports that the ‘Christians’ took their name from a person called ‘Christ’ who was executed by Pontius Pilate in Judea in the era of Tiberius Caesar.
Tacitus expected the movement to die with its founder but instead it spread to Rome where, by the time of the great fire in AD 64, it had become ‘immense’.
Tacitus’s history tell us (a) Jesus was known as ‘Christ’, (b) that he was therefore a genuine figure of history, (c) when and where he was executed, and (d) that in spite of his death as a disgraced felon within thirty years his movement spread from Palestine on the edge of the empire to its heart, Rome…”
– Read it all – at Dr Paul Barnett’s blog.