The Tragedy of the faux-Evangelicals
Matt recently pointed us to a post by Christina Rees, chair of the women’s ordination pressure group WATCH (Women and the Church). The piece by Rees is one of several in the last week for the Guardian newspaper’s “Comment is Free” section.
Last week the question was raised “What should evangelicals believe?” This is, of course, a key question. Much of the fracturing amongst those who are opposed to the innovations of TEC and others in the Anglican Communion comes about because this simple question cannot be answered clearly. …
– David Ould writes at Stand Firm.
The Pope a Protestant?
About once a week, the Bishop of Rome, Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), holds a “general audience” in St Peter’s Square in which he gives instruction (catechesis) to Roman Catholics. In three of the more recent of these catechetical audiences he has sounded themes that might be taken as Protestant. …
On 19 November, as part of a larger series on Paul’s theology, he gave the first of two brief addresses on justification. …
… doubtless many readers will be tempted to stop reading and to rejoice that the Reformation is over. … That would be a mistake.
– R. Scott Clark, Professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary California, looks at the Pope’s teaching in its context – at The Heidelblog.
(Image: The Vatican website.)
Presiding Bishop taps Episcopal lawyers to fund TEC lawsuits
“According to the Executive Council minutes from February and October 2008, they have pulled $900,000 in trusts just to re-establish the three dioceses – San Joaquin, Pittsburgh and Ft. Worth – that have seceded from TEC.
There will not be enough money to litigate the AMiA, CANA, Southern Cone, Kenya parishes still in their buildings, said the source. …”
– Story from VirtueOnline. (Photo: Episcopal Life Online.)
The Secularisation of the Church
… As The Times [London] reported the story:
The Church of England should be open for use by people of any religion or none, like a hospital, says Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.
There is a strong case for regarding the Church as a public body that does not exist simply to serve believers, he argues. Whether or not most people attend regularly is irrelevant.
This is a strange and pathetic vision of the church. No longer the assembly of believers, the church is now defined merely as a public utility.…
– Al Mohler comments. (Photo of Archbishop Semantu: Archbishop of York’s website.)
What should evangelicals believe?
The question of the week on The Guardian ‘Comment is Free: Belief’ blog is, “What should evangelicals believe? What must an evangelical think and do to make him or her worthy of the name?”
My reply, the first of what will be five for the week, is here.
– John Richardson helpfully contributes to public debate in the UK.
Sola scriptura minus the scriptura
I knew we had to take a look at this week’s Newsweek’s cover story when I read the first line. It was just that bad. It was written by senior editor Lisa Miller who oversees all of the magazine’s religion coverage. Which is pretty shocking when you look at the unbelievable ignorance on display in her grossly unfair first paragraph…
– Mollie Hemingway at Get Religion. (hat tip Between Two Worlds.)
Newsweek goes for Gay Marriage
Newsweek magazine, one of the most influential news magazines in America, has decided to come out for same-sex marriage in a big way, and to do so by means of a biblical and theological argument. In its cover story for this week, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage,” Newsweek religion editor Lisa Miller offers a revisionist argument for the acceptance of same-sex marriage. It is fair to say that Newsweek has gone for broke on this question. …
– Southern Baptist Seminary President Al Mohler comments at his blog. (Photo: Together for the Gospel.)
Observing Evangelicalism with Don Carson
Mark Dever asks Don Carson about the highs and lows of the evangelical landscape in this 73 minute interview recorded in June and released last week by 9 Marks.
Original Sin and Justification by Faith
Back in 1953, the Rev Broughton Knox, who was in the UK for his doctoral studies, gave a lecture at the Oxford Conference of Evangelical Churchmen. His topic? Original Sin and Justification by Faith.
The text was published in Churchman – and Church Society has just republished it on their website as a PDF file.
Thinking about The Big Day in?
Connect09 will be launched at 10:00am on Sunday February 8th 2009 with a telecast featuring music, videos, and an address from Archbishop Peter Jensen.
Churches wanting to view (and project) the live video will be able to stream it over the web.
A simpler solution may be to receive it through the The Australian Christian Channel – either via cable TV – or via free-to-air Standard Definition digital TV on Digital Forty Four (broadcast on UHF channel 35 from Gore Hill).
For details on Digital Forty Four, including their coverage map, see their website. (Prior testing with equipment in place is a very good idea.) See the Connect09 website for more.
Mark Dever on the difficulty of doing evangelism as a Pastor
In anticipation of their forthcoming Pastors’ Conference, the people at Desiring God have posted online some helpful short video clips of Mark Dever and John Piper.
Mark Dever on the difficulty of doing evangelism as a Pastor can be seen here – and the list of all the clips is available at Desiring God.
Preaching to the heart
Last week, Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, spoke at a preaching conference at Oak Hill College in London. His topic? Preaching to the heart.
Oak Hill has generously made the audio available on its website.
The Shack reviewed
Back in May, we linked to some reviews of ‘The Shack’ by William P. Young.
Given the popularity of the book and the number of glowing reviews available, it may be helpful to re-read the links from our earlier post.
Edwin Judge: The importance of history
The Centre for Public Christianity has made available a number of video clips from a interview with Professor Edwin Judge conducted by John Dickson.
Professor Judge of Macquarie University is a widely known and respected authority on the Roman Empire.
The segment “The importance of history” and related clips are linked on this page.
Preach Christ in all the Scriptures?
Last weekend’s broadcast from the White Horse Inn tackles whether our preaching is actually focussed on Christ – or on felt needs. Graeme Goldsworthy is acknowledged as a great help in thinking through these issues.
“We Preach Not Ourselves” (November 23, 2008) is available – in several formats – at oneplace.com.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…