Rod Thomas consecrated Bishop of Maidstone
“On Wednesday [23rd September], in a service led by Justin Welby at Canterbury Cathedral, Rod Thomas was consecrated as the Bishop of Maidstone. … He has been appointed to enable conservative evangelicals to flourish in the Church of England…”
– Report from Susie Leafe, the Director of Reform, via Anglican Mainstream.
See also: Rod Thomas responds to questions for the ReNEW Conference last month (video).
‘Anglican Church concerned gay marriage would force Christian wedding suppliers to cater for same-sex couples’
“Conservative elements within Australia’s Anglican Church want new laws giving devout Christians the right to discriminate against same-sex couples, as the Federal Government pushes ahead with plans to hold a national plebiscite on the issue of gay marriage. …
The synod of the Anglican Church’s Sydney diocese will next month consider a report from a senior bishop which argues that wedding service providers should have the “religious freedom” to refuse to cater for gay couples.”
– Report on ABC Radio’s The World Today.
Perspective on the New Perspective (2) – The Moral Centre
“In our last post we used used Romans 4:5 as a test-case to highlight a key difference between the New Perspective and Reformed theology.
We saw that for N. T. Wright and James Dunn the ‘ungodly’ are those who are outside the covenant community and ‘justification’ means to be brought into the covenant. In this post I want to talk about some of the difficulties with this new interpretation…”
– Dr Peter Orr’s second post (first one here) on the New Perspective is worth your time to read, and is a powerful reminder of God’s glory as revealed in the gospel.
Discrimination and Opposition to Same Sex Marriage in Tasmania
“There are press reports… that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hobart is being sued under s 17 of Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 for causing “offence” or “humiliation”.
This was alleged to have been done by the Archbishop causing to be sent to Roman Catholic schools in his diocese, a booklet outlining the church views on marriage, and in particular expressing the well-known opposition of the church to the introduction of same sex marriage…”
– Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia with some context for what’s happening in Tasmania.
Book review — Raised Forever: Jesus’ Resurrection and ours
“…I love those moments where people get it; where they see clearly what the Bible has to say.
And because of that I love those means by which they get it. And because of that I love Rory Shiner’s raised forever.”
– David Ould is enthusiastic about Rory Shiner’s Raised Forever: Jesus’ Resurrection and ours.
(Photo: Rory Shiner, via Matthias Media.)
Gay clergy who married, running for Church of England General Synod
“Two Anglican priests who defied Church of England rules and entered a gay marriage are to stand for election to the Church’s General Synod…”
– Premier Christian Radio reports.
Related: Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream warns Synod voters: some ‘evangelicals’ are not as they seem.
‘Reserve Bank governor Sir Harold Knight offered distinguished service in war and peace’
“Sir Harold Murray Knight KBE, DSC was an Australian economist, best known as the third governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, serving from 1975 to 1982. …
Though his career in central banking featured prominently in his life and demanded much of his time, “it was not what motivated him or gave his life meaning,” his son, Dr Andrew Knight, said. His strong, personal Christian faith drove his core values and led him to devote decades of leadership to the Scripture Union, the Crusader Union, the Bible Society and the Anglican Church.”
– The Sydney Morning Herald has published this obituary of Sir Harold Knight.
(Image: Portrait of Sir Harold Knight by Bill Leak from the RBA Collection via SydneyAnglicans.net.)
Archbishop Welby, What will you do about it?
“I’m not fond of litigation. I take our witness to the world very seriously, and the damage to that witness from Christians suing each other is serious. And even though my former profession as a criminal prosecutor put me in the position of litigating daily in the courts, I would much prefer followers of Jesus Christ being able to follow 1 Corinthians 6 and work out their disagreements within the Church, through church or secular sponsored arbitration services and negotiated settlements.
I cannot, however, let the injustice pass that occurred in the oral arguments before the South Carolina Supreme Court, between the Diocese of South Carolina (Bishop Mark Lawrence) and The Episcopal Church (TEC.)…”
– The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey is disturbed by the latest legal action in South Carolina, and wonders what the Archbishop of Canterbury will say to the TEC Presiding Bishop at the Primates’ gathering in January.
The Pope’s speech to US Congress: ‘Nothing explicitly Christian’
“I just finished listening to the Pope’s speech to Congress from earlier today. There is no question that the occasion was historic – the first time ever that a Pope has delivered such an address. …
Nevertheless, even though the speech was historic, it was also a disappointment – not so much for what he did say but for what he didn’t say…”
– Denny Burk has some reflections.
Multi-Ethnic Churches: 9Marks Journal
The latest 9Marks Journal is now available for free download. The theme of this issue is Multi-ethnic Churches.
From Editor Jonathan Leeman:
“Satan has always loved to exploit the lines of ethnic division. Think of how the Egyptians in Exodus hold the Jews in contempt. Or how the brand new Jerusalem church, price sticker still on the backseat window, divides in Acts 6 between Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking Jews.
So churches today too often mimic their host culture’s ethnic rivalries, whether in South Africa, India, or America. Or at least, too often they forget they possess a resource for overcoming racial or ethnic strife that the world does not have: the gospel.”
How to be Moral without being a Moralist
“Nobody likes a wowser. But then again, it’s strange how modern life is full of things we’re not allowed to do, eat, drink or say (no sugar, no carbon, no sexism, no GM foods, and of course no religious people telling us what to do).
What do you think Jesus would say about all this?
Is it possible to be genuinely moral and seek to do what is good and right, without becoming a legalistic scold (like his most bitter opponents, the Pharisees)?…”
– Moore College’s Peter Bolt is speaking at two Centre for Christian Living events – one at Wollongong 0n Thursday 22nd October, and the other at the College on Wednesday 28th October. (Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Also coming up at Moore College:
Ray Galea is leading this year’s third Advancing Your Preaching Workshop on Tuesday 6th October.
Free eBook: Are We Together?
“Pope Francis is the first Pope to visit the United States since 2008. His visit has provoked many Christians to ask sincere questions concerning Roman Catholicism. In light of this, Reformation Trust is making the ebook editions of R.C. Sproul’s Are We Together? free until the end of September.”
– From Ligonier Ministries.
Chapters are: 1 Scripture, 2 Justification, 3 The Church, 4 The Sacraments, 5 The Papacy, Mary.
Also until the end of September is a free download of 5 lectures by R.C. Sproul on Roman Catholicism: 1 Scripture and Tradition, 2 Papal Infallibility, 3 The Church and Salvation, 4 Sacraments, 5 The Virgin Mary.
(To download these resources, you need to sign up for an account – however there is no charge for them this month.)
Matters of life and death
“One of the most vexed questions for Christians today is how we apply the truth of what we know to a fast changing culture. This is especially true in the area of ethics. Things that were not even possible 10 years ago, and scarcely considered, are now on the radar. Christians have to react quickly and think carefully.
That’s why John Wyatt’s one hour session at this year’s EMA was gold dust. John is a practitioner, which means every day he is having to put his carefully thought through theology into real life situations, and it’s well worth hearing his conclusions.”
– Thanks to Adrian Reynolds at the Proclamation Trust for the link.
UK Govt extremism plans ‘would target Christian charities’
“The Government could remove trustees from Christian charities, including schools, across England and Wales if they are deemed ‘extremist’, according to leaked Government legislation…
It comes after a proposal to enact a ‘national register of faith leaders’ was criticised as an attack on religious freedom not seen since the 17th century.”
– news from The Christian Institute.
The wages of spin: death of truth?
“Revisionist leaders talk a lot about their desire for unity in the Church. But more often than not, the only unity they are interested in is with the world, joining with the briefings of the secular culture against orthodox Christianity.
Here is what happened on Thursday, on the BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme, where the Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, and myself were in separate studios to discuss Justin Welby’s recent invitation to the Primates of the Anglican Communion to attend a meeting in January…”
– Anglican Mainstream’s Andrew Symes writes of his experience last week on BBC Radio – and looks at lesson we can learn. (Image: Christian Concern.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…