Evangelical Ecclesiology

“If an evangelical were to be asked to say what he believed about the death of Christ or the inspiration of Holy Scripture, then in most cases he would be able to do so with relative ease. But if that same evangelical were to be asked to relate the essentials of his beliefs about the church, that might prove to be a little more difficult.

As a result of this lack of clarity in thinking about the church, evangelicals become all the more prone to accept views about the church which are far from Scriptural, and certainly in the Church of England that means quasi-Catholic views of the church – this happening almost by default.”

– Church Society continues to republish articles from Churchman. In this 1991 paper “Towards an Evangelical Ecclesiology” by Melvin Tinker, he argued that many evangelicals need to think clearly about what church is. Relevant in 1991, and relevant now.

It’s available as a PDF file from Church Society.

The Archbishop we don’t need (but will probably get)

“Central to the role of the next Archbishop of Canterbury will be his views on human sexuality, not because that is the most important thing about Christian theology (though it is quite important), but because the agenda of our society will make it so…”

– John Richardson calls for an Archbishop of Canterbury who will ‘uphold sound and wholesome doctrine, and … banish and drive away all erroneous and strange opinions’. At the Ugley Vicar.

Daniel B. Wallace on the New Testament Manuscripts

At Between Two Worlds, Justin Taylor has an interview with Daniel Wallace –

“In addition to teaching New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, he serves as executive director of the cutting-edge Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts… He recently made quite a stir when he announced that next year an academic publication will reveal the discovery of a first-century fragment from the Gospel of Mark…”

– Wallace answers questions about textual criticism, the number of NT manuscripts there are, which are the earliest, and more. Read it all here.

Farewell Rowan Williams

ACL President Mark Thompson offers these thoughts on the legacy of Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury –

“Rowan Williams has occupied Lambeth Palace at an extraordinarily difficult period in Anglican history.”

“It is now official that the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will resign at the end of this year. The news is not really a surprise. Rumours have abounded for the past year about an early retirement and return to academia. It is generally recognised that the last decade has been an extremely taxing time for Rowan Williams and the pressure upon him from all sides has been extreme.

Already a great number of valedictory notices have appeared on the net and in the church press. His intellectual prowess is universally acknowledged, even if it is often qualified with exasperation at his highly abstract way of communicating his ideas. He has been described in one recent piece as ‘the theologian’s theologian’, no doubt a reference to the fact that he has never been satisfied with easy answers and has preferred oblique approaches to thorny issues rather than a direct frontal assault. He has challenged his readers and others to deep thought and a refusal to foreclose on the answers. Perhaps too, it might be said, his difficult and abstract prose has had a particular appeal to those too ready to assume that the difficulty lies in the profundity of his ideas rather than an unwillingness to nail his colours to the mast, those who prefer asking questions to giving answers. And yet, it must also be said, there have been fleeting moments of remarkable lucidity in which he has confessed faith in Christ in the midst of uncertainty, suffering and brokenness.  Read more

Tolerance on Trial: A Conversation with Don Carson

Albert Mohler and Don Carson chat about issues related to Carson’s new book The Intolerance of Tolerance.

At Al Mohler’s ‘Thinking in Public’ podcast. 47 minutes / 64 mp3 file.

Trellis and Vine Talk No. 6 — at The Briefing

Over at The Briefing, the latest episode of the ‘Trellis and Vine Talks’ has been posted. Col Marshall and Tony Payne chat about Discipleship teams. It’s episode 6, and the others in the series are listed here.

The Challenges we face

“The church, like the Bible, is not primarily concerned with human sexual behavior. Our main concern is to seek the glory of God in all things, and to bear witness to the saving power of Christ’s gospel. But the Bible makes clear that God’s glory is inherently connected to our sexual behavior and our identity before the Creator. Furthermore, the gospel requires a clear understanding of human sinfulness, including, very specifically, sexual sins.

One thing is clear – the church has to learn how to speak honestly and courageously about sexual morality, but also to speak with true gospel humility. In other words, we must make clear that we are not moral superiors speaking to moral inferiors, but those who have been redeemed by God’s grace pointing others to his grace to us in Christ…”

– Albert Mohler outlines some of the key issues facing a new generation of ministers of the gospel.

Visual Theology — The Trinity

Tim Challies has produced another ‘infographic’ in his ‘Visual Theology’ series.

“It seeks to show what we must and must not believe about the Godhead while also explaining the complementary roles of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” – See it here.

What marriage is, and why it matters

“Why do Christians care about marriage, and what does it mean to them? The answer is quite simple, though it demands a considerable amount of unpacking: just as, according to Genesis 1:27, human beings ‘image’ God, so marriage ‘images’ the relationship between Christ and the Church, or to put it another way, the relationship between the Creator-Redeemer God and his created-redeemed people…”

– John Richardson in the UK seeks to flesh out (so to speak) the significance of marriage – at The Ugley Vicar.

Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith?

Keep a look out for this one –

“Crossway has just published a major new collection of essays from an international team of top-flight scholars on the historicity of Scripture and why it matters to faith: Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? A Critical Appraisal of Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Scripture, edited by James K. Hoffmeier and Dennis R. Magary…”

– Details from Justin Taylor. (Availability.)

Credo — Make Disciples of All Nations

“The March issue of Credo Magazine seeks to ignite a passion for missions. And what better timing as this year marks the 200th anniversary of Adoniram and Ann Judson setting sail aboard the Caravan to take the gospel to Burma.”

– The latest issue of Credo Magazine is available to be viewed online or as a 38MB PDF file.

After-birth Abortion: Atheist Ethics at Work

“Whenever I mention Professor Singer’s views, I am assured that he is an extremist who in no way represents atheism itself. … However, Professor Singer is a leading ethicist and atheist, holding the chair of Bio-ethics at Princeton University and in 2004 voted as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies. His views are those of reasoned atheism … His views are not held by him alone.”

– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen writes in his weekly message for the Cathedral.

Peter Adam teaches from John’s Gospel

Late last year, Dr Peter Adam gave a series of six talks on John’s Gospel to the Anglican Military Chaplains’ annual retreat. His theme was ‘Taking Care’.

Thanks to Defence Anglicans for making the audio files available.

Just what’s needed: clarity in the debates over men and women

ACL President Dr Mark Thompson writes about a new book he’s reading:

“This is a book worth handing out to women in our churches en masse…

This book needs to be read by men too and especially those men responsible for teaching the Bible in our churches. In a world where women and men receive the most absurd messages about what it means to be human, what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, here is real sanity…”

God’s Good Design: What the Bible really says about Men and Women will be available later this month from Matthias Media. (Photo: in tandem.)

The Underestimated Doctrine of Conversion

– That’s the focus of the current edition of the 9Marks Journal, available for download here.

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