A Mighty Fortress is Our God

At Desiring God, David Mathis takes a look at Martin Luther’s famous hymn. What did the original German hymn say?

“The hymn came into English as early as ten years after Luther composed it, but the version most of us sing today was translated by Frederick Hedge more than 300 years later, in 1853. It is by no means a literal translation of the original, understandably taking certain licenses for the sake of meter and rhyme.

Add to that the fact that Hedge was a Unitarian minister…”

– And John Piper and Matthias Lohmann give us a ‘Woodenly Literal’ Translation – at Desiring God.

 

How to pray soul-in-hand

“Many people never rise above the infant stage in the all-important matter of their prayer life.

It is the most natural thing in the world for the babe to regard the world as his oyster. From early days he makes the tacit assumption that everything that there is, is for his benefit, and in truly lordly fashion he makes his demands. …”

– From the archives of The Australian Church Record, Leon Morris challenges us to actually pray.

Here we stand

“But Luther did not stand alone. The Reformation was not about one or two big names — Luther, Calvin, Zwingli — but about a massive movement of Christian conviction, boldness, and joy that cost many men and women their lives — and scattered the seeds that are still bearing fruit in the twenty-first century.

Not only was Luther surrounded by many Reformers in Germany, but lesser-known heroes of the faith rose up all over Europe. Heroes like Heinrich Bullinger, Hugh Latimer, Lady Jane Grey, Theodere Beza, and Johannes Oecolampadius. Luther was the battering ram, but he ignited, and stood with, a chorus of world changers.

And here we stand today, 500 years later. Luther wasn’t alone then, and he’s not alone now.”

– All month, Desiring God has been posting brief biographical sketches of key Reformers. Read or listen here.

Archbishop of Canterbury to lunch with the Pope today

“The Archbishop of Canterbury will meet and have lunch with Pope Francis today, in what will be the pair’s fourth meeting together in in the Vatican.

Archbishop Justin Welby travelled to Rome to formally commission his new Personal Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre, Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, which took place during evensong last night. 

This morning Archbishops Welby and Ntahoturi will meet with Francis and will then go to the Pope’s residence, the Casa Santa Marta. It is not common for Francis to invite people he meets for official audiences to lunch so the gesture can be read as a sign of the warmth and ease of the relationship that exists between the Pope and Welby. …”

– Just in time for Reformation Day. Report from The Tablet.

Related:

Why the Reformation is Definitely Not Over – Mark Gilbert.

Is the Pope a Catholic? Understanding the Catholic Church – Mark Gilbert.

How should I share the gospel with a Roman Catholic? – Sugel Michelén (9Marks)

Shadows of the Cross — new devotional book from Mike Raiter

Shadows of the Cross by Michael Raiter is to be published by Anglican Press Australia in November.

“In these 40 daily devotions, Michael Raiter encourages readers to reflect on the death of the Lord Jesus by exploring how the Old Testament foretold the coming of the death of the Messiah in pictures, poems and prophecies.

While we may not see Jesus as clearly in promise as we do in fulfilment, the Old Testament is like a shadow that points to the reality – the gift of God’s Son which demonstrates the length, breadth, height and depth of God’s love for us. In this way the Old Testament calls all people to put their faith in Jesus.”

– See Christian Education Publications for a preview and ordering details.

Reformation 500 Sunday at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, 29 October

From St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney:

“As the world celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, St Andrew’s Cathedral marks this extraordinary day on Reformation Sunday – 29th October – the day the church marks 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door.

During our 10.30 service the Cathedral Choir of boys and men, and international soloists, Penelope Mills: soprano, Jonathan Borg, countertenor, Michael Butchard: tenor, and Christopher Richardson: bass, will join with our historical-instrument orchestra in bring JS Bach’s monumental celebration cantata no. 80: ‘A Mighty Fortress’ written for Reformation Sunday itself, with words by Martin Luther.

The sermon will be given by Australia’s foremost expert on the Reformation, the Rev. Dr Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore College, Sydney.

A feast for the heart and for the mind, and within the context of our morning service. All welcome!”

New book equips Christians under pressure in the UK

“This is an unusual book for unusual times.

Reading the timeline the author has constructed connects many events most Christians are already aware of and puts them in a format that allows a proper assessment of the flow of history in our time.

The scenarios the book presents are a clarion call to wake up to the situation we face and a reminder that our sovereign Lord is at work in all that happens. Julian Mann is assisted by contributions from journalist and author Peter Hitchens, and Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream.”

– Read about Julian Mann’s Christians in the Community of the Dome at Anglican Mainstream. The book is published by Evangelical Press.

Purposefully porn-free

“The Archbishop’s Taskforce for Resisting Pornography is preparing an information website for those in the Diocese and further afield who need tools to help support the rejection of porn.

“Many Christian leaders today are declaring that pornography is the single greatest issue confronting the church,” the Rev Marshall Ballantine-Jones (pictured) told members of Synod. …”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Before we allow Euthanasia, look who the Dutch have killed

“Have Victoria’s politicians, half way to legalising euthanasia, looked at what’s happened in Holland?

Here are some very troubling cases – plus interviews with the brother of an alcoholic who had himself killed, and  a woman with tinnitus who also had herself killed just three weeks later. …”

– Last night’s Bolt Report on Sky News Australia looked at the disturbing Dutch experience of ‘euthanasia’. via The Herald Sun.

Provoking Discrimination

“Words come and go depending on the times. Recently I heard a man say that he thought with the fall of the Berlin Wall the word ‘Marxists’ would not be heard again. ‘Anarchist’, ‘anarchy’ are words we are familiar with but I am surprised to see a growing trend of wearing it as a badge of honour. And it is these kinds of words that help me appreciate a word like ‘discriminating’, ‘discriminate’ and ‘discrimination’. …”

– Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers looks at the use of a loaded word.

Remembering Martin Bucer

“On the right-hand side of the chancel floor of Great St Mary’s Church, in the centre of Cambridge, lies a small brass plaque.

The Latin inscription, its obscure location and small size do not make it a very accessible tourist attraction. However, as X marks the spot for pirates’ treasure, so this plaque commemorates one of the most influential sixteenth-century reformers: Martin Bucer. …

Perhaps the most prominent way Bucer influenced the English Reformation was via liturgical reform. He spent 1550, among other projects and lecturing responsibilities, reviewing the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. Bucer’s Censura was a thorough critique of Cranmer’s first attempt to revise the Prayer Book. The result was a much more conspicuously evangelical liturgy in the 1552 edition. ”

– Steve Tong, who is studying at Cambridge, is thankful for Martin Bucer and his legacy. At The Australian Church Record.

See also: Celebrating the Reformation: Its Legacy And Continuing Relevance, edited by Mark D. Thompson, Edward Loane and Colin Bale.

The beauty of normal boring liturgy

“A visitor to our church came up to me at the end of the meeting last Sunday and said to me, ‘That was great, where I go to church we don’t normally do that.’

‘Normally do what?’

I asked, casting my mind over what element of the church service was out of left field or could be considered something unconsidered.

‘Read the Bible. Longer bits of it.’

‘You mean the Bible readings?’

‘Yes. Where I go, they don’t do that.’…”

– Stephen McAlpine has a challenge for your church.

The ‘Good Fellows’ Myth

“The ancient Egyptian, so I have read somewhere, did not think of sin as rebellion against God, but simply as an understandable aberration. The ancient Greeks had no idea of the wrath of God, but conceived of their various deities as passionless beings, above being concerned with what man does. The modern Australian accepts both heresies. …”

– Leon Morris addresses our inbuilt tendency to assume that we’re all OK. From the vaults of The Australian Church Record, 19 January 1956.

Freedom to provide religious instruction in Australian schools

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes,

“I am presenting a paper on this topic at the University of Notre Dame (Sydney) Law School’s Second Annual Religious Freedom Conference, “Freedom of Belief, Freedom of Action”.

The paper is linked here: Freedom to Provide Religious Instruction paper, for those who would like to read it. It surveys recent challenges to the provision of special religious education in public schools, from a religious freedom perspective.”

– from Law and Religion Australia.

Now teaching Christian doctrine at a church school is ‘extremist’. Move over Monty Python.

“Are you sitting comfortably in your ‘safe space’? Do you have your ‘trigger’ alarm ready? Then we shall begin. There is a shocking story coming out of darkest Kent. The Christian equivalent of an Islamist madrasa is being set up in a normal decent English school, teaching children hateful and extremist ideology.

These extremists have been spouting hate, abuse and according to one small group of parents, causing their children to be ‘exposed to potentially damaging ideology’.

One concerned parent shared their trauma with the press:

‘No one minds Nativity plays and Bible stories but considering most of the parents at the school aren’t practising Christians I think the feeling is that it’s all too much.’ …”

– David Robertson, minister of St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee, writes at The Wee Flea on the latest ‘anti-extremist’ development in the UK.

See also these comments from ‘Archbishop Cranmer’.

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