Justification – “A Most Wholesome Doctrine”
“The eleventh article introduces us to the most important point of controversy in the sixteenth century. It would not be an exaggeration to say that polemics raged round the question of Justification by Faith. …”
– The Australian Church Record is continuing to reprint Archdeacon T.C. Hammond’s series on The Thirty Nine Articles. This from April 1956.
Why Princeton’s snub of Tim Keller should outrage progressives
“If you’re a conservative evangelical Christian who feels called to ministry, you’re welcome to attend Princeton Theological Seminary. But you’re not worthy of honor there. That’s the message sent by PTS’ president, Craig Barnes, today. …
If Christians like Tim Keller are unworthy of honor and deserve to be marginalized, American Christianity is in serious trouble. …”
– Jonathan Merritt writes at Religion News Service.
Related: What Hath Amsterdam to do with Princeton? – Reformation21.
“In 1898 B.B. Warfield invited the Dutch Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper to deliver six lectures at Princeton Seminary for the inaugural Stone Lectures. These lectures were eventually bound and printed as Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. In these lectures, Kuyper discussed what he believed to be the manner by which a Calvinist and Reformed worldview ought to be applied to quite a number of spheres of life.
The inaugural Stone Lectures forever linked the theology of Dr. Kuyper with Princeton Seminary. This connection was further solidified in the creation of the Kuyper Prize, awarded by the Kuyper Center for Public Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.”
On Leaving the Church of England — Gavin Ashenden
The Rev. Gavin Ashenden gives his reasons for leaving the Church of England in this video released overnight.
While our readers might hold to a somewhat different theological perspective (Gavin speaks from an Anglo-Catholic position), he raises concerns which many would share. The video runs for 27 minutes.
Related:
Princeton Seminary cancels award to Tim Keller after LGBT complaint – Christian Post.
Princeton Seminary reforms its views on honoring Tim Keller – Christianity Today.
NEXUS17 coming up on April 3rd
NEXUS17 is at MBM Rooty Hill this year.
“Four outstanding talks, morning and afternoon tea, a spit-roast lunch, time to talk with old friends and meet new ones…”
Theme: The Reformation we need today.
Details at the Nexus website.
An FAQ on shaping your ministry culture around Disciple-making
“In 2009 a small Australian publisher quietly released a book entitled The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything, co-authored by Sydney Anglicans Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.
The book became an unlikely international bestseller, especially when Mark Dever offered his unsolicited endorsement that “This is the best book I’ve read on the nature of church ministry,” and began reading excerpts of the book aloud at conferences.
If you haven’t read it, you don’t need to. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor explains why you don’t need to read The Trellis and the Vine.
Beer, Bibles and free speech in Australia
“The Bible Society of Australia has recently celebrated its 200th birthday – a significant milestone in a country whose European settlement only took place about 230 years ago. It decided to celebrate the event by way of connecting with popular Australian culture – and in a fairly secular country, a key aspect of that culture is beer!
So in a creative move, the Society formed a partnership with Coopers, a long-established but slightly “niche” brewery, to arrange the release of cans of “Coopers Light”, a low-alcohol beer, with Bible verses on the cans. (The link was all the more appropriate because the motto of the Society was “Live Light”. Coopers also claims to be “Australia’s longest living family brewery”, having been established in 1862.)
So far, so good …”
– At MercatorNet, Neil Foster recounts the disturbing tale of the “Keeping it Light” video.
Why Christians should be punctual
“If you’re someone who is consistently late, are your reasons good? Maybe you’ve never even considered your lateness to be an issue. But have you thought about what it is that you’re (perhaps unintentionally) communicating to the person/people/event that you are late for? …”
– At GoThereFor.com, Kirsten McKinlay suggests five reasons why punctuality matters.
Reformation Rally at Moore College, Saturday 18th March
‘First Anglican evensong in Catholic St Peter’s Basilica’
“The first ever Anglican choral evensong has been celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. … It marks closening ties between the Anglican and Catholic churches and is one of several examples of ecumenism between them in the last year.”
– Report from Premier Radio in the UK, featuring an interview David Moxon, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Vatican (and formerly Archbishop of NZ). Photo courtesy Vatican City State.
Related: Reformation Rally at Moore College, Saturday 18th March.
Religious Free Speech in Australia: CDF v Gaynor
“Can a reserve member of the Armed Forces make controversial, religiously motivated, political comments on a private website contrary to Defence Force policy?
Sadly, the answer provided by the recent decision in Chief of the Defence Force v Gaynor [2017] FCAFC 41 (8 March 2017) is, No, not without having their service terminated. …”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster (Associate Professor in Law at Newcastle), looks at an important free speech issue in Australia.
Philip North crisis: ‘Good Disagreement’ has become ‘bad bullying’
“When the house that has been painstakingly constructed on the sand falls flat, there is nothing to rejoice over. Discernment works better when unclouded by the sin of taking and giving offence.
Bishop Philip North’s election to the Diocese of Sheffield was a litmus test. … a serious test for the much vaunted ‘Good Disagreement’ that Archbishop Justin Welby has staked his archiepiscopal strategy on.
It has all gone badly wrong.”
– Dr Gavin Ashenden guest posts at Archbishop Cranmer.
Those who attacked Philip North have made same-sex blessing compromise impossible
“Remember that ‘radical new Christian inclusion’ Justin Welby spoke of in the wake of Synod’s decision not to ‘take note’ of the Bishops’ report on marriage and same-sex relations? Well, you can forget it. …”
– ‘Archbishop Cranmer’ argues the hounding of Philip North demonstrates that ‘radical inclusion’ is not possible in today’s Church of England.
(Photo of Bp North courtesy Diocese of Blackburn.)
“Beauty and the Beast fans in Sydney welcome ‘queer’ twist in remake of classic tale”
“Hundreds of fans have lined the streets outside Sydney’s iconic State Theatre to welcome US actor Josh Gad, one of the stars in the remake of Disney’s classic Beauty and the Beast. …”
– ABC report.
Related: The Facts about Beauty and the Beast Disney Movie – Amy Bevin (h/t Tim Challies.) Image: ABC TV.
When good friends dream big for the gospel: Newton, Wilberforce & Johnson
“In the mid-1780s John Newton, the celebrated slave-trader turned preacher, became re-acquainted with one William Wilberforce, a young MP who had recently become an Evangelical. It was the start of a remarkable partnership.
1786 saw their first great project. The British Government had announced plans to establish a convict colony at Botany Bay in New South Wales. Newton had been thinking about mission to ‘the South Seas’ for a long time. …”
– From The Australian Church Record – an edited extract from a paper by Craig Schwarze, first presented at the Moore College Library day in 2013.
Related:
Giving Thanks for John Newton.
(This painting of John Newton by John Russell hangs in the CMS building in Oxford. Photo © Marylynn Rouse / The John Newton Project, used with permission.)
From Strength to Strength — A Life of Marcus Loane — reviewed
In the Autumn 2017 issue of Australian Presbyterian, Bruce Murray briefly reviews From Strength to Strength – A Life of Marcus Loane, by ACL Emeritus Vice-President Canon Allan M. Blanch.
“Together with a good supply of appropriate photographs, this book gives an excellent coverage not only to Loane’s life but also to the history of the Anglican Church in Australia.”
It’s on page 21 of this 7MB PDF file.
The book was launched in October 2015. Copies are available through the publisher.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…