A Short History of Linking Jesus and Dionysus
“Controversy was stirred by a tableau vivant (‘living picture’) in the Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that performed (or parodied) da Vinci’s The Last Supper. The scene was enacted by a cast of drag queens and a peculiar near-naked man painted head to toe in blue. Enough has been said about the event itself; I want to talk about that man in blue.
The Opening Ceremony’s creative director has since explained that this man represented none other than the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. It raised the question, what was this scene? A mockery of the sacred, or a celebration of the pagan?
I find myself oddly well placed to talk about this.
Two years ago, I completed my doctorate at Cambridge University. My thesis? A contrast between the Gospel of John and the portrayal of Dionysus’s opponents in Euripides’ tragedy, The Bacchae. For three years I immersed myself in this play and took as many classes as I could on Dionysus. And now I discover that my thesis on Greek poetry has real-world application! It’s every doctoral student’s dream come true!…’
– Moore College’s Tom Habib writes at The Gospel Coalition Australia.
It just might be something you could use in conversation.
He notes:
“Two millennia ago, the ancient world began to exchange Dionysus for Jesus. And it seems as though the world now wants to swap back. The tableau vivant at the Opening Ceremony was indeed a living picture of our world today.”
Eric Liddell: The Olympic Champion who ran God’s Race in the Internment Camp
“With the approaching of the 33rd Summer Olympics in Paris on July 26, many people especially Christians are remembering Eric Liddell (1902-1945).
Powerfully depicted in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire as the “Flying Scotsman”, Liddell demonstrated to the world a strong Christian conviction. Appreciated or criticised, he refused to run any race on any Sunday, even at the cost of gold medals. However, his missionary work in war-torn China from 1925 to 1945 is less known, and even less known is his Christ-like living in the Japanese concentration camp in China. …”
– At AP, Sonia Liang reminds us of the often-overlooked story of Eric Liddell.
Photo: Eric Liddell at the British Empire vs. USA (Relays) meeting held at Stamford Bridge, London on Saturday 19 July 1924. Public domain, via Wikipedia.
Fact-Checking a popular story of Christian origins
“The latest book by bestselling author and controversial Australian feminist Clementine Ford is I Don’t: The Case Against Marriage (Allen & Unwin, 2023).
She wants this book to not only dissuade people from getting married but also ‘to end marriages’, because of the harm they bring to women.
This article isn’t about her main thesis, but the striking way she begins her case against marriage. The very first step Ford takes is to outline the history of Christianity and so discount the moral authority of the church. …”
– Robert Martin at Northcote Baptist Church in Melbourne does a spot of fact-checking for The Gospel Coalition Australia. This could be helpful if you have friends who are reading the book.
Related:
Who will champion marriage? – Marriage Foundation via Anglican Mainstream. The linked story includes some interesting charts.
June 6, 1944, One of the Most Morally Significant Days in Western History
In his The Briefing broadcast for Friday 07 June 2024, Dr Albert Mohler reflects on D-Day.
Remembering D-Day
Today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June 1944.
Five years ago, Joe Carter wrote this potted summary for The Gospel Coalition.
Students of history know that D-Day represented a massive effort to win freedom from Nazi tyranny, and there was great personal sacrifice. In a world where so many take for granted the freedoms we enjoy, it is good – and sobering – to remember.
Yet Christians know that our liberation from sin and death came at an even higher price. Incalculably so.
As we remember and give thanks for those who laid down their lives to defend our freedom and civilisation, let’s never take for granted what the Lord Jesus has done for us.
Related:
Hear the NBC radio broadcast announcing the D-Day invasion.
A D-Day story: Part One – The crossing – Tom McCarthy at The Conservative Woman.
Freedoms of West make our culture worth defending – John Anderson
Image: 1977 photo of a stone marker in Saint-Malo, France – part of La Voie de la Liberté – the Road to Liberty – opened in 1947. It commemorates the route of the Allied forces as they fought to liberate Europe.
Remembering the Sacrifice: ANZAC Day 2024
“Grant Dibden, Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force, shares the story of sacrifice about Corporal Reginald Samuel Thorn from Broken Hill, NSW.
A recently discovered letter from Corporal Thorn was sent one day prior to his sacrifice at Pozières, France.
At deaths door, Reginald Thorn’s letter shares the hope of a better place beyond the grave made available through the greatest sacrifice made by Jesus.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13.”
– At Defence Anglicans.
The Gateway Drug to Post-Christian Paganism
“I recently revisited a book that I had not read for many years: Robert P. Ericksen’s Theologians Under Hitler.
It is a study of how three intellectuals, Gerhard Kittel, Paul Althaus, and Emanuel Hirsch—scholars of the Old Testament, Luther, and Kierkegaard, respectively—came to support Hitler in 1933 and ultimately be identified with an evil ideology that cost millions of lives, both in the death camps and in the war that German expansionism precipitated. …”
– At First Things, Carl Trueman has a warning for Christians – whatever their political leaning.
Link via Tim Challies.
Responses to a new book about the recent history of the Diocese of Armidale
Today saw the launch of a new book – Darkness: The Conversion of Anglican Armidale, 1960-2019 by Thomas A. Fudge, Professor of History at the University of New England.
You can get a feel for the likely tone of the book from a report by John Sandeman in July 2023 (link via our website). And the University of New England website has an interview with Professor Fudge.
Today the Diocese of Armdale has published two responses to the new book –
One by Bishop of Armidale Rod Chiswell –
“‘Darkness – the conversion of Anglican Armidale 1960-2019’ is a book that seeks to bring to light hitherto unheard voices responding to the transition of the Anglican Diocese of Armidale from a middle church diocese to a lower church evangelical diocese. …”
However Bishop Chiswell challenges two of Professor Fudge’s key presuppositions as well as his conclusions.
The other is a Review of the book by Dr. Mark Earngey, Head of Church History and Lecturer in Christian Thought at Moore College –
“Professor Fudge has produced a weighty tome on some of the recent history of the Anglican diocese of Armidale. … While conversion is normally associated with light (e.g. 1 Peter 2:9: ‘that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light’), Fudge interprets the growth of evangelical Anglicanism in the Armidale diocese in terms of darkness.”
In his Review, Dr Earngey provides very helpful historical and theological perspective.
Read both responses at the Diocese of Armidale website.
Remembering Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
On 21 March 1556, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer died at the stake in Oxford.
Learn about this towering figure of the English Reformation:
In 1989, Canon Allan Blanch wrote this appreciation of Archbishop Cranmer for ACL News.
In 2001, ACL News interviewed Dr. Ashley Null, recognised expert on Cranmer.
Further reading:
Masters Of The English Reformation by Marcus Loane (published 1954) is an excellent introduction to the English Reformation and five key figures: Bilney, Tyndale, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer.
Portrait of Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke. (This is a re-post.)
I Believe in the Death of Julius Caesar and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
“Mark Twain famously described faith as ‘believing what you know ain’t so.’ He probably observed a good many Christians doing just that. But do thoughtful Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus despite the evidence, or because of it? Today’s date is an occasion for us to consider some of the evidence for Christianity’s central claim.
On March 15, 44 BC – the Ides of March – dozens of Roman senators assassinated Julius Caesar. Nearly 77 years later, on or about Sunday, April 5, AD 33, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.
We can have justified belief in both events by following four practices historians use to discover the truth about the past. …”
– Published in time for the Ides of March (last Friday), this article at The Gospel Coalition (US) is a good reminder of the confidence we can have in the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The end of an era — BCA House Broken Hill
“As he took down the sign outside BCA House in Broken Hill in mid-January 2024, Indigenous Ministry Officer Neville Naden rightly said it was the end of an era.
The planning for a facility to serve the people of Broken Hill and beyond was first flagged in the December 1949 issue of The Real Australian …
BCA House was officially opened on 6 March 1950 by the Archbishop of Sydney, the Bishop of Riverina, the Rector of Broken Hill and BCA missioners.
The Hostel, a converted old home set on a large block, was originally built as a Stock and Station Agency and was able to provide accommodation for up to 30 children. …”
– From The Bush Church Aid Society.
A lament for Scotland
In his latest podcast, David Robertson laments – and asks you to pray – for the land of his birth:
“In this week’s episode we look at the history, culture, and politics of Scotland. I have taken over a year to do this. It is possibly the hardest thing I have ever had to do because it is so hard for me to be objective.
This is deeply personal. And there is so much to say. It was difficult to decide what to leave out – I literally had hundreds of hours of material … I hope what has remained in will be helpful in understanding modern Scotland – and indeed the modern world. …
There are lessons for all of us in seeing how Scotland has changed, been blessed and declined. …”
And a strong reminder to pray for the nation and people of Scotland.
Richard Johnson — Chaplain under fire
This Australia Day, it’s worth remembering how the gospel was received when it was preached in Sydney Town –
“One observation about the past is especially instructive for Christians of any age: faithful witness is often met with hostile opposition. It would be a mistake to conceive of some halcyon days in the past when the whole of society was motivated by the Christian faith and gospel proclamation went unopposed.
The Constantinian form of Christianity, which permeated the Western world over the past millennium, never truly embraced those who sought to be faithful witnesses. This is certainly true of Australia’s first ordained minister, Richard Johnson, who arrived in Sydney as chaplain to the colony of New South Wales with the First Fleet in 1788. …”
– Steve Tong wrote this for The Australian Church Record last year.
Related:
An Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies – Richard Johnson (PDF file)
Three Lessons from 234 Pastors’ Libraries
“One of the most common assumptions about pastors throughout church history is that they are men of books – that reading is central to a pastor’s ministry. If you walk into your pastor’s office – he might even call it his ‘study’ – it will almost surely be full of books (2 Tim. 4:13).
But it wasn’t always this way. From our perch in 2023, we easily forget how significant the introduction of the printing press was to the history of the church. Prior to its invention, books were rare, usually only owned by wealthy men and women or tucked away in a monastery. Hardly any ordinary Europeans would have owned more than one book prior to 1450. …”
– At 9Marks, Forrest Strickland shares three lessons from history.
Post-Restoration Reformed Anglicans
Church Society’s Lee Gatiss shares some history about Post-Restoration Reformed Anglicans –
“The ejection of many of the Puritans from the Church of England in 1662 was not the end of the story for Puritanism, for Reformed theology, or for the gospel in the established church.
This lecture looks at a common tendentious reading of church history and by examining the lives and teaching of three significant Anglicans in the later Stuart period …”
– See it at Church Society.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…