‘Men Have Forgotten God’: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s 1983 Templeton Address

To mark the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The National Review has republished an article adapted from his 1983 Templeton Address.

Among his remarks are these words –

“Within the philosophical system of Marx and Lenin, and at the heart of their psychology, hatred of God is the principal driving force, more fundamental than all their political and economic pretensions.

Militant atheism is not merely incidental or marginal to Communist policy; it is not a side effect, but the central pivot. To achieve its diabolical ends, Communism needs to control a population devoid of religious and national feeling, and this entails the destruction of faith and nationhood. …”

– Read it all.

Photo: US Library of Congress, via The National Review.

On choosing a Christmas diet

“Here is a scary question: in the average day, how much time do you spend thinking about food? As Christmas looms, most of us spend even more time than usual thinking about menus. Who and what will you serve this festive season? There’s endless inspiration to fill our thoughts on TV, Facebook feeds and as we chat to others.

We happily spend hours considering what to feed our bodies, but how much time do we spend thinking about what we are feeding to our souls?…”

– What will you feed yourself? Alice Brown reminds us what we need. At the ACR.

How to Evangelise Friends Identifying as LGBTQ

Rosaria Butterfield shares some ideas on sharing Christ’s love.

At the Gospel Coalition, (Link via Tim Challies.)

Biblical friendship (part 3): Cultivating friendship

“In part 1 and part 2, we looked at what a true friend is, and how Jesus is the ultimate friend. Now we’re going to think about how to cultivate biblical friendships through the lens of one of the great friendships recorded in the Bible: Jonathan and David.

We won’t look at their story in any depth here, but I’d encourage you to read it for yourself in in 1 and 2 Samuel. It takes place in the midst of royal jealously, violence and manipulation. You would not be remiss to mistake it for the plotline of a soap opera, probably The Bold and the Beautiful if I had to pick one.

Jonathan and David’s friendship faced great trials and tribulations. Jonathan’s father, King Saul, tried to kill David no fewer than eight times. Jonathan saved David’s life twice. Although their friendship was greatly threatened, it stood firm right up until Jonathan’s death. And their friendship affected how David lived out the rest of his life. …”

– Caitlin Orr concludes her series on Biblical friendship at The Australian Church Record.

Biblical friendship (part 2): Being a friend

“In part 1 we looked at John 15 and saw that a friend is loving, sacrificial and outward looking.

The book of Proverbs fleshes out this picture of what it means to be a friend. Proverbs is immensely helpful in thinking through the issue of friendship, which isn’t surprising because it’s a book of wisdom that tells us how God’s creation operates. So let’s look at what we can learn from Proverbs about friendship. …”

– Caitlin Orr continues her series on Biblical friendship. At The Australian Church Record.

Themelios 43.3 now available

The latest edition of Themelios is now available for free download from The Gospel Coalition.

Last Minute Christmas Ideas from Reformers Bookshop

Reformers Bookshop in Stanmore has some ‘last minute’ gift ideas – on special until 16th December.

The Derby Cathedral scandal and the alleged establishment bias of conservative evangelicals

“Derby Cathedral has given biblical orthodoxy a great boost by banning the Revd Melvin Tinker from preaching at a university Christian Union carol service.

The ban has built a tremendous platform for Mr Tinker and his supporters to demonstrate how intolerant of biblical Christianity the Church of England establishment is increasingly becoming.

But it is important to reflect on something Mr Tinker said in the course of the controversy in an interview on Anglican Unscripted. …”

– The Rev. Julian Mann writes this opinion-piece at Anglican Mainstream.

For the background, see Kevin Kallsen’s interview with Melvin Tinker at Anglican Unscripted.

Your gut is wrong

“The gut plays a very important role in the day-to-day life of those born after 1980. For one, these generations are obsessed with food, with every second meal being posted on Instagram and every second TV show relating to food.

But the gut also plays a powerful role in the initial reaction to any given situation. The initial gut reaction often controls the emotions and determines the response that follows, even directing the ongoing course of action.

We see it in evangelism when we mention that Jesus is the one and only way to God (John 14:6). The hearer’s gut reaction is …”

– Mike Leite writes at The Australian Church Record.

Contacting Parliament on sex discrimination amendments

“A number of Christian and other religious organisations are deeply concerned about the proposals in the ALP-sponsored private Bill due to be debated in the Senate on Monday Dec 3. As I have discussed in previous comments (here and here) the Bill, which started out as an agreed measure to stop religious schools from expelling gay students on the basis of their “orientation” alone, has a number of other serious consequences for religious freedom, not only for schools but for churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious organisations (such as, for example, University student ministries.)

The Bill amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to remove some clauses which have previously provided protection for Christian organisations to operate in accordance with their religious beliefs. …

I have been asked how concerned citizens can contact their Parliamentary representatives. …”

– Associate Professor Neil Foster shares some points you might make to your Parliamentary representatives. (Emphasis added.)

Praying through Advent 2018

Andy Geers shares some helpful resources you can access through PrayerMate.

Religious liberty and Australian culture

“Roughly 40% of Australians voted No to same-sex marriage and, according to a recent Newspoll, roughly 40% also reject the legitimacy of religious protections for Australians who disagree with same-sex marriage. The debates taking place in Federal parliament regarding religious liberty are culturally significant.

The cultural reformation of the 1960s has transformed social views on sex, marriage, family, and, increasingly, gender. And yet clearly not all have gone with the tide. …”

– Dr Stephen Chavura argues that ‘religious liberty and freedom of conscience is not religious privilege”.

Related:

Calls for Macquarie University to distance themselves from Christian Academic (March 2017).

Is It Discrimination for Christian Groups to Require Christian Leaders? – Patheos.

Jesus Christ makes everything good for everyone, everywhere.

“We have to engage in cross-cultural mission respectfully, wisely and lovingly. The Bible tells us to obey the emperor and the government of the land in all things lawful and good. Christians who develop a calling or sense of urgency about the eternal salvation of any particular person or group need to be very prayerful, very wise and take lots of very good counsel.

We see a model of this in Paul’s missionary journeys through Acts. He and his team are certainly prayerful, as is the church in Antioch and elsewhere. Paul takes counsel to go or to stay in a place. He operates within the law, even when the law is used against him. He is respectful to jailers and governors, challenging them only when it comes to the claims of the Gospel itself.

Missions-minded Christians go all over the world legally, respectful of local laws and cultures and customs, breaking down every barrier in order to win the right to bear witness to Jesus. We go as humble servants of the Word. …”

– The Gospel Coalition Australia speaks with Dr Wei-Han Kuan, State Director of CMS Victoria, about the motivation of would-be missionary John Allen Chau, on North Sentinel Island in the Andamans. (Image credit: NASA / MODIS.)

Related:

Glen Scrivener speaks about criticism of John Allen Chau published in The Independent.

Tim Challies shares some thoughts:

“Suddenly the whole world is talking about Christian missions. In his own way, John Allen Chau has sparked a conversation that now rages within the church and outside of it. I’ve spent the past week gathering my thoughts about his situation, and would like to offer a few points I hope you find helpful. …”

On Earth as in Heaven

The team at Speak Life in the UK have released this video for Christmas.

“Reaching the heavens was hard enough. But Christmas reveals an even greater mission.”

– Watch it here.

Related:

The Apollo 8 crew read from Genesis chapter 1, Christmas 1968.

Meet the Nativity – the 2017 Christmas videos from Speak Life.

Some thoughts on the New Zealand response to the proposal from Sydney

“On 13 November Archbishop Donald Tamihere and Archbishop Philip Richardson replied to Archbishop Davies on behalf of the General Synod Standing Committee of ACANZP.

In their reply they note that Anglicanism in New Zealand has been shaped by a specific two hundred year history and that:

‘To be Anglican in this land requires that we, led by our Lord Jesus Christ, face into this shared history so that we can help shape a common future for all people based on peace and justice and righteousness.’ …

As they see it, it would be impossible to recognise as Anglican a body that was not bound by the ‘laws and promises and solemn commitments’ of the current ACANZP.

On this basis they say they are unable to accept Archbishop Davies’ proposal. To an outside observer, however, it is not clear why this should be the case. …”

– Anglican theologian Martin Davie devises a simple test to help understand why Archbishop Davies’ proposal (PDF) was not acceptable.

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