Phillip Jensen on Roman Catholicism
“[I]f Martin Luther came into Sydney and saw Roman Catholicism and its Stations of the Cross, he’d say, “Ah, they’ve cleaned up their act.” So there are certain aspects of Catholicism in the Protestant world which are much more acceptable to where Luther would have been.
But no. Things are actually worse than in Luther’s day because since Luther’s day the Roman Catholic Church not only calcified itself explicitly against justification by faith alone, or the authority of the scriptures alone, or salvation by grace alone, et cetera; not only calcified itself against that back at the Council of Trent but since then you’ve had the Vatican I Council in 1870, which clarified the idea that the Pope can speak infallibly. …”
– Dean Phillip Jensen in an edited transcript from The Chat Room – published by The Sydney Morning Herald.
To see the Dean’s comments in context (highly recommended!), watch the full video via SydneyAnglicans.net here. The programme runs for 28 minutes.
A higher quality (but large – at 160MB) mp4 video file is available from this direct link.
No other Name – The uniqueness of Christ for Salvation
David Phillips, General Secretary of Church Society, wrote this before the recent Church of England General Synod –
A survey conducted by Christian Research six years ago asked Clergy whether they believed without question that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Only 51% of the Clergy questioned could agree. …
there is good reason to think that less than a half of the Bishops believe that Christ is the only way of salvation.
The issue of the uniqueness of Christ for salvation has been bubbling up for some time and has shown every sign of erupting in the last few months. Many are now trying furiously to prevent any such eruption for fear of the consequences. Read more
Bishop of San Joaquin ‘recognised by Canterbury’ – but withdraws from Lambeth
“Bishop Schofield has elected to decline the invitation to the Lambeth Conference issued to him last year although that decision does not signal any withdrawal from the Communion.…”
– Archbishop Greg Venables writes to the people of the Diocese of San Joaquin. On the San Joaquin website (pdf – direct link).
Gene Robinson called to repent
Last Sunday, Gene Robinson (who was not invited to Lambeth, but is the one on whom the media are focussing) spoke at St. Mary’s Putney in London.
His sermon was interrupted by a man calling him to repent.
It’s a sobering interruption. Could these issues really be that important?
– See the BBC report. (The service was telecast live on the BBC’s news channel.)
– See the video of the ‘sermon’ at The Gene Pool (it’s the ‘Be Not Afraid’ video).
And be encouraged to listen again to Dr. James Packer’s very helpful talk at Holy Trinity Eastbourne last month.
Rector urges support for women
A South Hurstville Anglican priest, Reverend Chris Albany, has criticised leaders of Sydney’s Anglican Church for their opposition to women priests and bishops. …
Reverend Albany as rector of St Mark’s Anglican Church, South Hurstville, said there was no reason why women could not be priests and bishops. …
– Report fom the St. George and Sutherland Shire Leader.
However, see also, for example, these two helpful resources –
Men and Women: Partners in God’s Purposes – A Bible study given by Dr. John Woodhouse in 1997 (in the old section of our website) and
Dr Gerald Bray’s recent talk, What’s wrong with Women Bishops?
(Photo: Australian women bishops Barbara Darling and Kay Goldsworthy – by Janine Eastlake / Anglican Media Melbourne.).
ESV Study Bible: Introduction to the Psalms
Crossways Publishers have made available another sample from the forthcoming ESV Study Bible. This one is their Introduction to the Psalms, along with the notes for Psalm 1.
You can see the sample with this 530kb PDF file.
(Thanks to Between Two Worlds.)
Schori to ‘focus on more important matters’
“The head of the Anglican church in the US has said that her church has embarrassed other parts of the Anglican Communion with its approach to sexuality.
Speaking ahead of the Lambeth Conference, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori defended churches that had confronted the controversial issue.
She said she hoped that Anglican bishops gathering in Canterbury this week would not be distracted by discussions about sexuality, but rather would focus on more important matters like international development and climate change. …”
– Report from BBC News.
‘Cardinal Newman to be reinterred in preparation for sainthood’
The Vatican has ordered that the body of Cardinal Newman, the Church of England’s most renowned convert to Roman Catholicism, be exhumed and reinterred in a marble sarcophagus, where it can be more easily venerated by the faithful. …
– Story from Ruth Gledhill in Times Online.
(Note also Article XXII of the Thirty Nine Articles.) Photo: University College Dublin.
Darkest hour at Lambeth
While Sydney is embracing Popemania and aspires to unity in the wider Catholic Church, it is a different story for Anglicans.
Tomorrow, the Lambeth Conference of Bishops of the worldwide Anglican Church begins in Canterbury, England. … – from The Herald-Sun.
Piper on Parker on Calvin
John Piper quotes Parker’s biography of Calvin on Calvin’s labour of preaching –
Those in Geneva who listened Sunday after Sunday, day after day, and did not shut their ears, but were “instructed, admonished, exhorted, and censured,” received a training in Christianity such as had been given to few congregations in Europe since the days of the fathers.
A challenge to preachers today – from Desiring God.
‘Lambeth power list’
The Telegraph in the UK has published the final instalment of it’s list of the top 50 ‘influential figures’ in the Anglican Church.
Not necessarily edifying, but some may find it of interest – at The Telegraph.
New website displays Certainty
Just in time for World Youth Day, the Certainty.org.au website is now live. Check it out and pass on the address to your friends.
(For background, see this earlier post.)
Bishops waver as Lambeth beckons
With the once-in-a-decade Lambeth Conference just days away, hundreds of bishops are planning to stay away whilst others remain in two minds after this week’s vote in support of women bishops. … The Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Rev Benjamin Nzimbi, meanwhile confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the Kenyan Church would not attend Lambeth in protest of pro-gay bishops present at the conference. …
Although the conference is due to open on Wednesday, the Bishop of Europe, the Rt Rev Geoffrey Rowell, said he was “astonished” at the lack of information handed out so far on the details of the Lambeth programme, according to The Telegraph. …
– Report from Christian Today. (Photo of Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi: Joy Gwaltney.)
No other foundation
“The foundation of the true church was laid at a mighty cost. It needed that the Son of God should take our nature upon Him, and in that nature live, suffer and die, not for His own sins, but for ours. It needed that in that nature Christ should go to the grave, and rise again. In needed that in that nature Christ should go up to heaven, to sit at the right hand of God, having obtained eternal redemption for all His people. No other foundation could have met the necessities of lost, guilty, corrupt, weak, helpless sinners.
The foundation, once obtained, is very strong. It can bear the weight of the sins of the world. It has borne the weight of all the sins of all the believers who have built on it. Sins of thought, sins of imagination, sins of the heart, sins of the head, sins which everyone has seen, and sins which no man knows, sins against God, and sins against man, sins of all kinds and descriptions — that mighty rock can bear the weight of all these sins, and not give way. The mediatorial office of Christ is a remedy sufficient for all the sins of all the world.”
– Encouraging words from Bishop of Liverpool, J.C. Ryle, in Holiness. (With thanks to First Importance.)
Jerusalem Post interviews David Anderson
In the lead up to next week’s Lambeth Conference, The Jerusalem Post has published this interview with Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council. The interview took place when Bishop Anderson was at GAFCON.
– from The Jerusalem Post. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…