Mohler: The Secularization of the West and the Rise of a New Morality

“The claim that humanity can only come into its own and overcome various invidious forms of discrimination by secular liberation is not new, but it is now mainstream. It is now so common to the cultures of Western societies that it need not be announced, and often is not noticed. Those born into the cultures of late modernity simply breathe these assumptions as they breathe the atmosphere, and their worldviews are radically realigned, even if their language retains elements of the old worldview…”

– Albert Mohler publishes Part 2 of a four part series on Secularisation and the Sexual Revolution. See also Part 1.

The future of liberalism

“Does Liberalism have a future? Or is it only parasitic on the real life of the church? What are the respective fruits of Liberalism and Evangelicalism?

Whilst we might instinctively feel we know the answers to such questions it is highly insightful to see if history corresponds to theory. And it does!

In this highly interesting and informative article, Barry Shucksmith traces the historical development of Liberalism in the Church and the decline of Church life that resulted from it alongside the story of Victorian Evangelicalism with a particular focus on the 1857-1860 revival in Great Britain.…”

– Rob Brewis writes on Church Society’s blog.

Rome Recreated (AD 320)

At With Meagre Powers, George Athas draws attention to “a stunning animation that recreates the city of Rome as it was in AD 320—the reign of Constantine”.

AP scores a hit with scoop on ISIS’ destruction of Iraqi monastery

“Certainly, journalists can’t do enough to explain what’s up with this orgy of monument desecration that ISIS and Al Qaeda enjoy doing. But there’s a deeper issue here…”

– Julia Duin at Get Religion looks at coverage of the destruction of the 1400 year old St. Elijah’s Monastery of Mosul monastery. (Image: CCTV.)

‘ISIS destroys Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery’

“Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press confirm what church leaders and Middle East preservationists had feared: The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a field of rubble … St. Elijah’s Monastery stood as a place of worship for 1,400 years…”

– Report from Fox News.

C.S. Lewis — a secret Government Agent?

“As I browsed eBay not long ago, I came across a 78 rpm recording of a lecture by C. S. Lewis.

I assumed that it was a mistake or that the seller was trying to defraud an unwitting public. I knew Lewis well enough to know that he had never made a 78 rpm recording for general distribution, much less one produced by something called the Joint Broadcasting Committee…”

– News of an interesting discovery, from Christianity Today.
(Image: Christianity Today.)

What was the Star of Bethlehem? — is this the answer at last?

“Readers should be appropriately skeptical any time they hear about a new theory revealing the true star of Bethlehem.

But reading the comments below from various experts – in biblical studies and apologetics and science and cometography – should encourage readers to give Colin Nicholl’s groundbreaking work, The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem, serious attention…”

– Justin Taylor on a fascinating new book – and there’s an 85 minute interview of the author, Colin Nicholl, by Eric Metaxas.

From the book:

“When it comes to claims of major advances in the understanding of long-debated Biblical mysteries, many people are naturally very skeptical. We have all seen too many television documentaries on mysteries of the Bible. A grandiose claim is made at the start of the program, and we wait patiently – or, more often, impatiently – through commercials and a long, drawn-out build-up for the narrator finally to unveil the supposedly great discovery. When the program does eventually get there, almost without exception we end up rolling our eyes and regretting that we have just wasted an hour of our lives. The most common, but by no means the only, problem is that key details of the Biblical text have been twisted or ignored in order to accommodate the featured hypothesis.”

– from this excerpt (PDF) on the Crossway website.

Don’t forget Charles Simeon

“I first became aware of the extraordinary influence of Charles Simeon on the Church of England when I was an undergraduate at King’s College Cambridge where he was once vice-provost. Sadly, at the end of the 20th century he had largely been forgotten in that college. It would be an even greater sadness, however, if he were to be forgotten by the Church of England as a whole, especially evangelicals…”

– Tom Watts, at Church Society’s blog, reckons we must not forget Charles Simeon.

(Charles Simeon was a key figure behind the decision to send a Chaplain on the First Fleet – and also in the founding of the Church Missionary Society and in evangelical witness at universities in the UK and abroad.)

Happy 97th Birthday, Billy Graham

“This is the best documentary I have seen on Billy Graham, the most famous and significant evangelist since George Whitefield…”

– Justin Taylor provides links to a 120 minute documentary on Billy Graham.

Is the Reformation Over?

“There have been several observations rendered on this subject by those I would call ‘erstwhile evangelicals.’ One of them wrote, ‘Luther was right in the sixteenth century, but the question of justification is not an issue now.’ A second self-confessed evangelical made a comment in a press conference I attended that ‘the sixteenth-century Reformation debate over justification by faith alone was a tempest in a teapot.’…”

– Dr R.C. Sproul writes of the danger of forgetting the reason for the Reformation.

See also: Dr Carl Trueman, “Why the Reformation Isn’t Over”.

What is Reformation Day?

“What is Reformation Day? To answer that question, let’s ask another question. When is Reformation Day? It’s October 31; it commemorates the events of October 31, 1517…”

– Ligonier Ministries’ Stephen Nichols answers the question at Five Minutes in Church History.

Reformation Sunday 2015

It’s Reformation Sunday this weekend, and the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has some free (and some paid) downloadable resources for your edification.

When Billy Graham (almost) gave up on the Bible

“…what do we do when we experience doubts that might cause us to give up on Christ, or even to radically alter our views about the Christian faith? …

Having recently read his autobiography, I found it very interesting to learn how Billy Graham faced a crisis of this kind…”

– A most encouraging piece from Moore College’s Dr. Peter Orr. Read it all.

(Photo: Archbishop Marcus Loane and Billy Graham at the 1979 Crusade. Courtesy Ramon Williams / Worldwide Photos.)

Biography of Sir Marcus Loane launched in Sydney

A large crowd gathered in Sydney on October 14th for the launch of a substantial biography of Sir Marcus Loane, Archbishop of Sydney 1966-1982.

From Strength to Strength – A Life of Marcus Loane, was written by Canon Allan M. Blanch, who is also an Emeritus Vice-President of the Anglican Church League.

The book was launched by Dame Marie Bashir.

From Strength to Strength promises to be an important contribution to Australian Church History. It also introduces Sir Marcus to new generations of Christians who, until now, may have known little about this towering figure.

A paperback edition is now available for order through the publisher’s website.

Top photo: Allan Blanch at the book launch.

A Tale of Two Archbishops — ACL Synod Dinner talk 2015

Dr Ed Loane from Moore College spoke to a packed ACL Synod Dinner at the Chapter House on Monday 12th October, 2015.

His topic: A Tale of Two Archbishops: Christian Unity in the Ministries of Archbishop Temple and Archbishop Mowll.

What were the key differences between these two towering figures? What lessons can we learn? Listen to Ed’s fascinating talk which has many contemporary applications:

Or right-click this link to download the 9.7MB mp3 file.