Can Evangelicalism survive Donald Trump and Roy Moore?

“For centuries, renewal movements have emerged within Christianity and taken on different forms and names.

Often, they have invoked the word ‘evangelical.’ Followers of Martin Luther, who emphasized the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, described themselves in this way.

The Cambridge clergyman Charles Simeon, who led the Low Church renewal movement within the Church of England, adopted the label. The trans-Atlantic eighteenth-century awakenings and revivals led by the Wesleys were also often called “evangelical.” In the nineteen-forties and fifties, Billy Graham and others promoted the word to describe themselves and the religious space they were seeking to create between the cultural withdrawal espoused by the fundamentalist movement, on the one hand, and mainline Protestantism’s departures from historic Christian doctrine, on the other.

In each of these phases, the term has had a somewhat different meaning, and yet it keeps surfacing because it has described a set of basic historic beliefs and impulses…”

– In The New Yorker, Tim Keller lays out what ‘evangelical’ means – in the context of the label being used by every man and his dog.

Fisking Bishop Fearon: The Lambeth Establishment takes on the Global South

“Three remarkable letters appeared this past week from Anglican sources:

These letters have to do with an important question: who is an Anglican, and in particular what is the status of the Anglican Church in North America?

The answers of the three authors could not be more divergent. …”

–  Professor Stephen Noll assesses the response of the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council, Dr Idowu-Fearon, to the GAFCON Chairman’s December letter.

He warns that the Secretary General is ‘edging towards papalism’ by making relationship with Canterbury ‘the unique feature of Anglicanism’.

A letter of congratulations to the new appointee to the See of Canterbury from a leading Evangelical (1860)

“I would like to extend my congratulations and best wishes to the Reverend John Henry Newman on his appointment to the See of Canterbury. Although we may differ over what some might consider trifles … I am sure that the Reverend Newman loves the Lord Jesus, and more crucially, loves the Church of England.”

– Melvin Tinker has written this satirical letter from ‘Bishop John Charle Ryle’.

And a good reminder to pray for the Church of England.

PrayerMate in 2017: Giving Thanks

Andy Geers at PrayerMate gives thanks for the way the app has been used this year, and foreshadows new content for 2018.

If you don’t use PrayerMate, be encouraged to check it out.

‘New Bishop of London … refuses to say where she stands’

“The controversial new Bishop of London refused yesterday to say where she stands on the the Church of England’s most damaging division.

The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally left tens of thousands of worshippers in her new diocese guessing about her views on gay rights after giving a high-profile broadcast interview. …

Bishop Mullally said the CofE has ‘a real diversity’ and is entering ‘a period of reflection’.

Bishop Mullally withheld her own thinking in an interview for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme in which she was repeatedly pressed for her opinion. …”

– Story from Mail Online. Photo: Diocese of London.

Related:

Which Way, Evangelicals? There is Nowhere to Hide – Albert Mohler.

“There will be no place to hide. The forces driving this revolution in morality will not allow evasion or equivocation. Every pastor, every church, and every Christian organization will soon be forced to declare an allegiance to the Scriptures and to the Bible’s teachings on marriage and sexual morality, or to affirm loyalty to the sexual revolution.”

When ‘Discernment’ Leads to Disaster – Albert Mohler.

Bishop-elect’s radio interview struggle reveals Church’s unresolved dilemmas – Andrew Symes.

“She would have known that it would come. She would have prepared for it, rehearsing her lines, perhaps with coaches, wanting to appear wise, generous, compassionate, authoritative. It came, finally, at the end of the interview; the dreaded ’Tim Farron question’ – ‘do you think homosexual relationships are sinful?’

Like an England batsman in the nets in Australia she had practiced for this moment … I felt for her as she attempted to answer the inevitable question, and she flannelled and waffled, a combination of the cringeworthy and the hilarious (see transcript below).”

Listen from 1 hour 52 minutes into the audio.

New book by Paul Williamson makes it into IVP’s Top 10 of 2017

“Dr Paul Willamson’s latest book has just been published.

Based on the material he presented at the Annual Moore College Lectures in 2016, the book is titled: Death and the Afterlife: Biblical perspectives on ultimate questions. It has been published as the most recent volume of the New Studies in Biblical Theology series, edited by D.A. Carson.”

– Good news from Moore College to round out the year.

See IVP’s top ten books for 2017 listed here.

Religious groups and employment of staff

“Can a Christian secondary school require that its teachers not openly advocate a sexual lifestyle that is contrary to the Bible’s teaching? Can an Orthodox Jewish preschool ask its teachers to live in accordance with Orthodox moral principles? Can a Protestant church refuse to hire someone to act on its behalf in political advocacy when that person does not share their religious beliefs?

These are all issues that have come up in recent months. Two of them are dealt with in decisions in connection with judicial proceedings, one in the UK and one from the European Court of Justice. One has been raised by media reports in Australia. In this post I want to flag these three cases briefly and to comment on the issues they raise for religious freedom, and how they should be resolved. …”

– Valuable resources from Assoc. Professor Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia.

Meet the Nativity Episode 4 released

See it, and the earlier episodes, at meetthenativity.com, and be encouraged to share the link.

Mark Dever: Remembering R.C. Sproul

Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman give thanks for R.C. Sproul in Episode 32 of their “Pastors’ Talk” podcast.

There are also links to two interviews.

Next Bishop of London announced

“The next Bishop of London will be the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally DBE, currently Bishop of Crediton, 10 Downing Street has announced today.

Bishop Sarah will succeed the Rt Revd and Right Hon Richard Chartres KCVO, who retired as Bishop of London earlier this year. …”

– Announcement from the Diocese of London.

And a message from the Bishop-designate.

From St. Helen’s Bishopsgate:

“We offer Bishop Sarah our congratulations and assure her of our prayers as she takes up the significant role as Bishop of London. The Church of England is committed to ‘mutual flourishing’. We look forward to Bishop Sarah working for this within the diocese of London.”

A Prodigal’s Christmas

“Everyone seems to love the story of a prodigal’s return. In fact, we often hear people say “ah, the prodigal has returned”. I imagine Christmas has often been the occasion of returning prodigals.

There was a time in Australia when most Aussies would have known where the expression came from. In case you don’t let me tell you. It is a Bible expression drawn from the story of two prodigals and a loving father that was told by Jesus Christ. …”

– Bishop of Armidale, Rick Lewers, on saying sorry and forgiveness at Christmas.

Is that all God’s got to say?

“I’ve struggled with anxiety in different ways all through my life. … As it turns out, I’m not alone. …

At the primary level, we need to remember that our relationship with God is not dependent on our performance but on God’s grace to us in Christ. And I think that the Bible’s teaching on adoption is extremely important here. …”

– Paul Grimmond helps us think through anxiety from a Biblical perspective. Very helpful with the stresses of Christmas coming up! Read it all at SydneyAnglicans.net.

R.C. Sproul and the Gospel

Tim Challies has published links to a number of tributes, as is fitting, giving thanks for R.C. Sproul, including the video compilation above.

They are linked here.

In addition, Albert Mohler speaks about R.C. Sproul in today’s issue of The Briefing broadcast, the last for 2017.

A Bright and Burning Light: Robert Charles Sproul

“He was one of the great defenders of historic Christianity of our times. It is fair to say that R.C. was the greatest and most influential proponent of the recovery of Reformed theology in the last century. He was a stalwart defender of the Word of God, and one of the primary architects of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 1978. His tapes were soon accompanied by his books and the vastly expanding influence of Ligonier Ministries.

When he taught about the holiness of God, a generation of evangelicals was rescued from the emaciated and desiccated theology of cultural Christianity. …”

– Albert Mohler thanks the Lord for R. C. Sproul.

So do Tim Challies:

“Ligonier Ministries has just announced that R.C. Sproul has passed away. But I don’t think he would want you to cry about it. “You can grieve for me the week before I die, if I’m scared and hurting” he once said, “but when I gasp that last fleeting breath and my immortal soul flees to heaven, I’m going to be jumping over fire hydrants down the golden streets…” So, to honor his memory, I won’t cry. But I will write. …”

Justin Taylor:

“Presbyterian minister R.C. Sproul, one of the most influential popularizers of Reformed theology spanning the late 20th and early 21st centuries, entered into the joy of his Lord and Savior on December 14, 2017, following complications from emphysema. He was 78 years old.

Because he preached the whole counsel of God and had a heart to equip God’s people to live before the face of a holy God, he often taught on suffering and death over his five decades of ministry. …”

Rick Phillips:

“We grieve today at the news of R. C. Sproul’s departure from this life, while so blessed at the knowledge that he basks in the glory of the Savior he served and loved.

In mourning our loss of this great preacher and church leader, my mind searches back to the early 1990’s, when what is now called the Reformed Resurgence was only an envisioned hope. I was converted to faith in Christ in 1990 under the preaching of R.C.’s close friend, James Montgomery Boice. This meant that I soon was exposed to the live phenomenon of R. C. Sproul in the pulpit in the prime of his vigor. I had never and never will see again such a combination of passion, intellect, and theological courage. …”

and Michael Horton:

‘The death of a saint always fills fellow pilgrims with inner conflict: joy in their being in the presence of the Lord, without the pains and struggles of this fallen existence, and sorrow at losing a dear brother or sister. These mixed emotions overwhelmed me as I sat next to R.C. Sproul as we shared in the memorial service for our friend, James Montgomery Boice. ‘A mighty general has fallen on the field, in valiant service to his Lord,’ I recall R.C. repeating in his message. And now, with so many others around the world today, I feel the sharp sting of that realization.”

Dr. R.C. Sproul, Called Home to the Lord

“Dr. R.C. Sproul went home to be with the Lord this afternoon around 3 p.m. surrounded by his wife, Vesta, and family in his hospital room in Altamonte Springs, Fla. He was 78. He died peacefully after being hospitalized twelve days ago …

Known to millions of Christians as simply “R.C.,” he was used of the Lord to proclaim, teach, and defend the holiness of God in all its fullness. Through his teaching ministry, many of us learned that God is bigger than we knew, our sin is more deeply rooted than we imagined, and the grace of God in Jesus Christ is overwhelming.”

– Ligonier Ministries has this announcement.

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