John Anderson argues for a No vote

“Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson says, ‘We need to be honest, and we have the right to ask the hard questions. The evidence here and abroad suggests that it would be naïve to think it’s simply about marriage’.”

– An important video message from John Anderson – on Facebook.

John Howard kickstarts No SSM case

“John Howard has called for ­proposed same-sex marriage legislation, including full protections for parents, religion and free speech, to be produced before the postal survey vote closes in ­November, as he launches his support for the No campaign.

The former prime minister said yesterday it was disingenuous for the Yes campaign to argue that changing the law to ­include same-sex marriage did not affect other rights and that the survey involved a simple yes/no question. …”

– Dennis Shanahan writes in The Australian (Subscription.) Photo: ABC.

General Synod Day 3 – More bills, less lunch, less Jesus

“As the afternoon kicked in we turned to considering issues surrounding future ministry, particularly two related debates around future structures and what are being called “pioneer ministries”. …

As we heard about the need to being doing ministry beyond the Sunday service it seemed like some people were, for the first time, grappling with what many of us simply call “evangelism”. But even then the struggle to actually be clear on the overall aim was soon going to manifest itself. …

I moved the following amendment:

after the words “The General Synod”, add:

“, captivated by the declaration of Christ that repentance for the forgiveness of sins be preached in his name to all nations”

Readers will recognise the language as being a direct citation from Jesus’ final charge to his disciples in Luke 24.47. Not controversial, surely?…”

– David Ould reports on the third day of General Synod, meeting in Maroochydore. Tragically, it seems the gospel of the Lord Jesus was narrowly voted down.

Territorial Anglicanism?

“The ordination of Bishop Andy Lines as missionary Bishop to Europe by 50 Bishops including 11 Primates has upset some Anglicans.

They protest that this action opposes the 4th Century Canons of Nicaea, though it is not clear how those Canons apply to this situation, nor what authority they have today.

The claim is made that Anglicanism is opposed to having more than one Bishop in one territory. This claim is less plausible when seen in the light of the reality of Anglican practice …”

– Church Society has republished this opinion piece by Dr. Peter Adam. It first appeared in The Melbourne Anglican.

Related: Loose Canons? Andy Lines and the Canons of Nicaea – Dr Mark Smith.

‘An expression of love for same-sex attracted people’

“This past week I was part of an effort that put America’s theological and moral fault lines fully in view. I was a signer of something called the Nashville Statement, a document adopted by a group of evangelical Christians seeking to reaffirm traditional Christian values on sexuality.

Within hours, the vitriol in response to our document showed why such clarification is necessary. …”

— The Washington Post has published this opinion piece by Albert Mohler.

Related:

The Bee Explains: What Is The Nashville Statement? — The Babylon Bee (Satire.)

John Chapman Preaching Conference, September 23

The next John Chapman Preaching Conference is coming up at Moore College on Saturday 23rd September.

Dr Bryan Chapell is considering the topic Application in Expository Preaching.

Details from the College.

Fascinating Political Times

“I had the good fortune of reading Eric Metaxas’ biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in my holidays.

In a vacuum of leadership Metaxas writes, ‘…the German people clamoured for order and leadership. But it was as though in the babble of their clamouring, they had summoned the devil himself…’

Nations can do that when good people do nothing. Without even realising, with a little slumber, a folding of the hands you can allow the summoning of a devil that has a nation reap the whirlwind. …”

– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, writes of the disarray our nation is facing. Where can stability and hope be found?

Mr Eternity: The Story of Arthur Stace

The forthcoming book, Mr Eternity: The Story of Arthur Stace, by Roy Williams and Elizabeth Meyers, is now available for pre-order from The Bible Society.

It’s expected to be published at the end of October.

Praying Together for Marriage

Archbishop Glenn Davies has written a prayer for marriage, and is also calling on Anglican churches in Sydney to pray.

The prayer was was printed in Southern Cross, September 2017, and we reproduce it here with permission:   Read more

“Why I will vote No.” — Rev Neil Chambers

“… These are all the reasons why I will vote, and why I will vote no to same sex marriage. In the end, I do not believe it is love of neighbour to endorse and normalize a practice [same sex sexual activity] God calls sin.

But these reasons will not be the substance of my conversations. The root problem is idolatry, in this case the idolatrous claim to be able to remake humanity in our own wisdom while we reject the Creator, the worship of our autonomy. The conversation I want to have is about Jesus – that He is Lord, that He loves us and can be trusted to tell us what is best for us, and that He will be our judge at the last day.

So, when you are talking to others don’t get lost in having arguments about the consequences of the change, or about the fears you may have about the change. Be honest – tell them that you think Jesus can be trusted and the life of human flourishing is found in following Him.

Our goal is not to win an argument, but to commend a Saviour. And He will be Lord whatever way the vote goes, in the plebiscite and in parliament.”

– These are the concluding paragraphs of a pastoral article written by the Rev Neil Chambers to his congregation in Melbourne.

Be sure to read it all.

Neil Foster on the Media release from the Wilberforce Foundation

“In the ongoing debates about same sex marriage in Australia (shortly to be the subject of a voluntary postal survey conducted by the Australia Bureau of Statistics, if it survives a High Court challenge), a number of professional organisations have decided to weigh in, in support of the ‘Yes’ vote.

The most recent such statement was issued by a combination of lawyers and doctors (see a press report of August 19 here, and the full text of the joint statement, by the NSW Bar Association president Arthur Moses, president of the Law Society of NSW Pauline Wright, and president of the NSW division of the Australian Medical Association Brad Frankum, is here.)

A number of lawyers around Australia, myself included, were concerned that this statement was not made after consultation with members of the various organisations, and in fact was misleading precisely at the point where one would expect a statement from lawyers to be accurate, in its statements about the law. …

Finally, speaking of a lack of consultation, as I prepare this post I see that WordPress seems to have decided to add a “rainbow banner” to the top of my page, without asking me if I would like such.”

– Associate Professor Neil Foster gives some background to the Wilberforce Foundation, and the Media release they have issued (PDF file).

(The header seen by WordPress users who are logged in to wordpress.com.)

‘Saying this Ad lies is a lie’

“Journalists and same-sex marriage activists claim the ad for the no campaign tells lies. But that is the real lie …“

– On SkyNews Australia, Herald-Sun’s Andrew Bolt looks at reaction to the first Coalition for Marriage television ad.

Related:

Fact checking the ‘No’ ad on same-sex marriage – ABC’s Triple J Hack.

Shorten blames Turnbull for ‘total rubbish’ TV ad from same-sex marriage opponents – SMH.

Key posts from August 2017

Here are some key posts you might have missed. Not surprisingly, most of them are relevant to the postal plebiscite on proposals to change the definition of marriage:

God and ‘The Wrath’

“C.H. Dodd prefers the translation ‘the Wrath of God’ to Moffatt’s ‘God’s anger’ in Rom. 1:18, ‘because such an archaic phrase suits a thoroughly archaic idea,’ while Nicolas Berdyaev writes ‘Anger in every shape and form is foreign to God.’ …

In such words many modern writers give expression to their conviction that God cannot be thought of as exercising wrath towards men, so that where the Scripture speaks of ‘the wrath of God’ it must either be explained away or abandoned. …”

– The wrath of God, in passages such as Romans 1, is never popular. Leon Morris, writing in 1955, explains that the concept of the wrath of God is necessary if he is also a righteous God. Republished online at The Australian Church Record.

Not all Equality is Equal

“One of the central mantras of the campaign to redefine marriage is that it’s all about ‘equality’. We hear the language of ‘equal marriage’, ‘marriage equality’ and even the claim that homosexuals are, somehow, ‘second-class citizens’.

What are we to make of this claim? I think the key is to establish quite what proponents have in mind when they speak of ‘equality’. To get clarity on this question we should turn to the most consistent of those pushing hard for a ‘yes’ vote in the upcoming postal survey (notwithstanding their refusal to committing to honour the result). Here in Australia perhaps one of the proponents with most integrity in this regard is the MP Tanya Plibersek, member for Sydney. …”

– David Ould asks what exactly it is that proponents of ‘marriage equality’ are talking about.

(Photo courtesy of the website of The Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP.)

Related:

This short video tries the approach of logic.

“Let’s be clear. This isn’t personal. The people making the argument for same-sex marriage are our family, they’re our friends, they’re our colleagues. We love them and we don’t think they’re failures at all. It’s the argument being used to justify a change in marriage that is a failure. This isn’t personal, it’s logical.”

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