Perspective on the New Perspective (1)
“Because part of my job involves teaching Paul’s epistles, I am frequently asked what I think about the ‘New Perspective’ on Paul.
This is a hard question to answer because the New Perspective is not a monolithic movement. We should perhaps more accurately speak of new perspectives (plural) on Paul since the people associated with this ‘movement’ (for want of a better word), people like James Dunn and Tom Wright, actually have very significant differences in how they read Paul. …”
– Dr. Peter Orr at Moore College identifies a key verse in understanding the New Perspective — at The Gospel Coalition Australia.
Free to live by one’s beliefs
“Many Australians are uncomfortable talking about religion or God. Sometimes we are surprised when one of our sporting heroes, like Jarryd Hayne, comes straight out and says: ‘All the glory goes to God, because without him none of this is possible.’ Some commentators are quick to criticise.
But there are many Australians who are very serious about religious belief. …”
– Associate Professor Neil Foster (who runs the Law and Religion Australia blog) has this opinion piece in today’s Newcastle Herald, ahead of a conference at the University of Newcastle on Friday September 25th. (Conference programme.)
‘The Anglican Communion is already divorced’
“Is the Anglican Communion about to split over different views of sexual ethics?
You might think so after reading headlines about the archbishop of Canterbury’s proposal to “loosen” the structures of the Communion — a way of retaining his relationship to the liberal wing of the Western churches as well as the traditional Anglicans of the Global South.
But to interpret the archbishop’s recent announcement as a split over sexuality is to miss the bigger picture. First, the impending dissolution of Anglicanism as it currently exists institutionally is over much more than sex. Second, the divorce has already taken place, just not formally…”
– At Religion News Service, Trevin Wax gives the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for a Primates’ meeting some context.
‘Allow me to die!’ — SBS Dateline
On 2CH in Sydney last night, Dominic Steele interviewed SBS journalist Brett Mason and Moore College’s Lionel Windsor, about the SBS TV Dateline programme “Allow me to die!”.
The Dateline programme follows two people who have decided to end their lives.
Related:
The hardest story I’ve told – Brett Mason, SBS.
Dr Megan Best’s speech on euthanasia at Sydney Synod in 2010.
Give Me Liberty and Give Me Death: Belgium’s Brave New Euthanasia Regime – Public Discourse.
GAFCON Chairman’s September 2015 Pastoral Letter
“…it has become clear over the last twenty years that the Communion is becoming a source of weakness as Churches which have rejected the truth as Anglicans have received it spread false teaching, yet continue to enjoy full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Our GAFCON movement believes in a much richer vision. We seek to unite. We recognise and embrace those who sacrifice for the sake of the gospel, not only those who persevere in the face of violent persecution but also those who persevere despite being marginalised and even forced out of their traditional spiritual homes by the rise of false teaching in the Church. To them we say ‘You are not alone’ as we join together to make Christ known.…”
– GAFCON Chairman Eliud Wabukala writes in his latest Pastoral Letter.
Graeme Goldsworthy on the Gospel, Atonement, Satisfaction and Justification
“Graeme Goldsworthy, former Moore College lecturer, is a highly influential theological thinker and author of recent times. His “trilogy” is available on Amazon Kindle right now for the stunning price of 20 cents. [14 US cents on the US store – ed.] It includes three key works: Gospel and Kingdom, Gospel and Wisdom, and The Gospel in Revelation. …
Goldsworthy’s life work is built on integrating the grand sweep of biblical narrative with its central theme, the gospel. The gospel, for Goldsworthy, has at its very heart the amazing truth that Christ died as a satisfaction for sin (in doctrinal terms, “penal substitutionary atonement”).
I thought it would be worth providing a few select quotes from Goldsworthy in his chapter on “Justification by Faith in Revelation” to illustrate this. Here he is seeking to integrate the historic reformed articulation of the gospel with the biblical narrative of Christ’s victory in the book of Revelation. …”
– Lionel Windsor has some really helpful quotes at his blog, Forget the Channel.
What brings us together
“Early this week Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, announced that he was inviting the leaders of the Anglican Communion to gather, reflect and pray over the Communion’s future. We later learned through his ‘aides’ that he was open to the Communion moving to a looser federation-like structure. Ruth Gledhill, a long-time reporter on Anglican events, gave a hearty endorsement of this possibility …
While I like Ruth Gledhill’s writing, I don’t share her enthusiasm for the Archbishop’s ‘vision.’ Why can’t I get on board with it and just ‘let go and let God?’ Because that would mean I ‘let go’ of the truth. …
What brings us together as Anglicans isn’t shared mission or endless indaba.”
– At the American Anglican Council, Canon Phil Ashley sees problems with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s hope of holding the Anglican Communion togther.
ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach on the proposed Primates’ gathering
The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America, Foley Beach, writes about his invitation to the Primates’ gathering in January:
“The challenges facing the Anglican Communion over the last couple of decades are no secret, and it is time to face them.”
Full text:
“Many of you have heard the news that I have been invited to attend a gathering of the Primates of the Anglican Communion this coming January.
I did indeed receive a personal call from Archbishop Justin Welby inviting me to attend and participate.
If my fellow GAFCON Primates accept the invitation, and I am expecting that they will, then I have also pledged to attend. The challenges facing the Anglican Communion over the last couple of decades are no secret, and it is time to face them. Previous meetings of the Communion, from the 1998 Lambeth Conference to the 2007 Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, gave clear direction for maintaining and restoring order within the Communion. Unfortunately, these resolutions were not followed which further divided the Communion. The resulting situation is one in which the fabric of the Communion continues to be torn.
I am thankful for the way in which GAFCON has proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ, and has been seeking the renewal and restoration of the Communion.
I ask your prayers for myself, as well as the other GAFCON and Global South Primates, as we continue to seek to evangelize, proclaim the Gospel, and work for the restoration of the Anglican Communion’s life and witness.
In Christ,
The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach.”
– From The Anglican Church in North America.
Archbishop Davies on the Syrian Crisis
“The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, has called for each church in Sydney to adopt and love one of the refugee families that are to come from Syria to Australia.
But how might this be done?
Last Sunday night on 2CH, Dr Davies, joined me in the studio to take talkback callers about how his plan might be rolled out…”
– Dominic Steele has been filling in for Kel Richards on 2CH on Sunday nights. Last Sunday night, Archbishop Glenn Davies joined him to speak about the Syrian refugee crisis.
Update: video of the conversation has been added.
Knowing your Bible is key to OT narrative
“One of the things that struck me about 1 Kings 1 is how the original readers’ Bible knowledge would have made a great difference to their reading. To us, the story is full of colour and detail but it doesn’t really resonate with the 2 Samuel story as it should…”
– Adrian Reynolds at The Proclaimer points out a problem for which a remedy is needed – know your Bible better.
GAFCON calls for ‘truth on the table’
Here’s a Media Statement from GAFCON concerning the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for a meeting of Anglican Primates in January 2016:
“the GAFCON Primates will prayerfully consider their response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter.
They recognize that the crisis in the Communion is not primarily a problem of relationships and cultural context, but of false teaching which continues without repentance or discipline.”
Read the full text below:
“Media Statement
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for a meeting of Primates in January 2016 shows that he has recognised the deep concerns of faithful church leaders around the world, including those belonging to the GAFCON movement who represent the majority of the global Communion’s membership.
GAFCON began with the first Global Anglican Future Conference in 2008 as an initiative to restore the integrity of Anglican faith and order as the Communion descended into deepening crisis.
We are now a global family standing together to restore the Bible to the heart of the Anglican Communion with a strength and unity that comes from our common confession of the Lord Jesus Christ, not merely from historic institutional structures.
It is on this basis that the GAFCON Primates will prayerfully consider their response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter. They recognize that the crisis in the Communion is not primarily a problem of relationships and cultural context, but of false teaching which continues without repentance or discipline.
Consistent with this position, they have previously advised the Archbishop of Canterbury that they would not attend any meeting at which The Episcopal Church of the United States or the Anglican Church of Canada were represented, nor would they attend any meeting from which the Anglican Church in North America was excluded.
It is therefore of some encouragement that the Archbishop of Canterbury has opened the door of this meeting to the Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, Archbishop Foley Beach. He has already been recognized as a fellow primate of the Anglican Communion by Primates representing GAFCON and the Anglican Global South at his installation in Atlanta last October and he is a full member of the GAFCON Primates Council.
In the end, our confidence is not in any structural reorganisation, useful though it may be, but in the saving grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and in the abiding truth of the Bible. That is what empowers us and this is the assurance we bring to our broken world.
September 17, 2015 AD.”
Read it on the GAFCON website.
Loyalty
“Of the two qualities largely lacking in our political leaders, one is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and the other is the fruit of our Christian hope. …
Our earthly leaders let us down and leave us no example to follow, but the perfect God/man, the Lord Jesus, set his face steadfastly to Jerusalem to suffer and die for undeserving rebels.”
– Presbyterian Moderator General David Cook lifts our eyes above the events in Canberra.
Anglicare Sydney launches Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal
Anglicare Sydney has launched The Archbishop’s Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal.
Read about it, and donate, here.
Archbishop of Canterbury calls for Primates’ Gathering
“The Archbishop of Canterbury today wrote to all 37 Primates inviting them to attend a special Primates’ gathering in Canterbury to reflect and pray together concerning the future of the Anglican Communion.
The meeting, to be held in January 2016, would be an opportunity for Primates to discuss key issues face to face, including a review of the structures of the Anglican Communion and to decide together their approach to the next Lambeth Conference.
The agenda will be set by common agreement with all Primates encouraged to send in contributions…”
– from The Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
See also: GAFCON calls for ‘truth on the table’.
A Journey through Romans – infographic
From Lionel Windsor –
“Here is the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, summarised in a single infographic. This is based on a mini-lecture I gave at Moore Theological College.” See it here.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…