Phillip Jensen on Roman Catholicism
“[I]f Martin Luther came into Sydney and saw Roman Catholicism and its Stations of the Cross, he’d say, “Ah, they’ve cleaned up their act.” So there are certain aspects of Catholicism in the Protestant world which are much more acceptable to where Luther would have been.
But no. Things are actually worse than in Luther’s day because since Luther’s day the Roman Catholic Church not only calcified itself explicitly against justification by faith alone, or the authority of the scriptures alone, or salvation by grace alone, et cetera; not only calcified itself against that back at the Council of Trent but since then you’ve had the Vatican I Council in 1870, which clarified the idea that the Pope can speak infallibly. …”
– Dean Phillip Jensen in an edited transcript from The Chat Room – published by The Sydney Morning Herald.
To see the Dean’s comments in context (highly recommended!), watch the full video via SydneyAnglicans.net here. The programme runs for 28 minutes.
A higher quality (but large – at 160MB) mp4 video file is available from this direct link.
No other Name – The uniqueness of Christ for Salvation
David Phillips, General Secretary of Church Society, wrote this before the recent Church of England General Synod –
A survey conducted by Christian Research six years ago asked Clergy whether they believed without question that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Only 51% of the Clergy questioned could agree. …
there is good reason to think that less than a half of the Bishops believe that Christ is the only way of salvation.
The issue of the uniqueness of Christ for salvation has been bubbling up for some time and has shown every sign of erupting in the last few months. Many are now trying furiously to prevent any such eruption for fear of the consequences. Read more
ESV Study Bible: Introduction to the Psalms
Crossways Publishers have made available another sample from the forthcoming ESV Study Bible. This one is their Introduction to the Psalms, along with the notes for Psalm 1.
You can see the sample with this 530kb PDF file.
(Thanks to Between Two Worlds.)
Piper on Parker on Calvin
John Piper quotes Parker’s biography of Calvin on Calvin’s labour of preaching –
Those in Geneva who listened Sunday after Sunday, day after day, and did not shut their ears, but were “instructed, admonished, exhorted, and censured,” received a training in Christianity such as had been given to few congregations in Europe since the days of the fathers.
A challenge to preachers today – from Desiring God.
Why Wright is wrong and Rodgers is right
Two very distinct and contrary views of the recent Global Anglican Future Conference have emerged following the Jerusalem gathering where some 1,200 world class Anglican leaders from 38 countries, including more than 300 bishops met to contemplate the crisis in the Anglican Communion.
The first view is from former seminary dean and now a Bishop with the Anglican Missions in the Americas, John H. Rodgers Jr. He was present at the gathering and observed the conference first-hand. …
– Commentary from David Virtue at VirtueOnline.
(Bishop Rodgers’ photo: Trinity School for Ministry.)
Themelios Journal now a free resource
The well-known evangelical theological journal Themelios is now being published by The Gospel Coalition. The General Editor is D A Carson.
The first fully digital edition (May 2008) has been graciously made available as a free download (5.8MB PDF or as streaming iPaper).
Get it from the Gospel Coalition.
Why Traditionalists must not wait to act
… it is an undeniable fact that it is radical principled action which changes the Anglican church, not debate and dialogue. The Oxford Movement demonstrated this in the nineteenth century, the churches of North America have shown it in the last and in this, first by illegally ordaining women, then by ignoring the pleas of the Communion not to consecrate Gene Robinson. …
– John Richardson calls for decisive action at the Ugley Vicar.
See also David Virtue’s post at VirtueOnline –
“Church of England traditionalists got their single biggest wake-up call, yesterday, when the Synod decided to consecrate women bishops, rejecting compromise proposals for new ‘super bishops’ that would have offered a safety net for those opposed to women’s ascent to the episcopacy. …”
Every word of God
“Imagine, for a moment. You wake up one morning and, as you stumble downstairs to grope for the coffee maker, you notice that the front door of your house is wide open, the brisk morning air blowing into the room and clearing your mind just a little bit. You stare at the door for a moment to process the fact that it is open. Your first thought, of course, is for your family. …”
– Tim Challies shares some helpful thoughts on the reasons for an essentially literal translation of the Bible. At Challies.com.
The Women Bishops debate: much vexation without representation
Late on Monday evening, the General Synod of the Church of England voted to take away my bishop. Not only mine, of course — they voted to take away all the Provincial Episcopal Visitors from the parishes which have enjoyed their ministry in the last few years. …
We must not forget that the Church of England has regularly in the past been on the side of oppressing those who wanted to express their religion freely. As one writer observed (I cannot locate the quotation, but remember it well), it was the Church of England which, due to its intransigence, virtually single handedly created Nonconformity. …
– John Richardson writes at The Ugley Vicar.
‘England bypassed. Global Communion isolated.’
Many years ago a Dutch friend of mine told me about a cartoon which expressed what they thought about the English attitude: an English newspaper headline read, “Fog in the Channel. Continent cut off.”
In the same way, we have seen English bishops, and indeed Archbishops, complaining that GAFCON has not shown due regard for Anglo-centric structures and personalities — that they, and not ‘self-appointed’ individuals and bodies, have the right to define the terms by which Anglicanism is constituted and operates.…
– John Richardson writes on the mindset of the Church of England at the Ugley Vicar.
Book review: Surprised by Hope
N. T. Wright is one of the most talented writers among New Testament scholars today. In this book he presents his understanding of what the Scriptures teach about heaven, the resurrection, and the church’s mission. …
Wright appeals to many because he is brilliant and fascinating, and some of what he says is helpful. Nevertheless, his failure to emphasize the centrality of the gospel is troubling, and pastors who find his work illuminating need to be careful that they do not veer away from their central task of proclaiming the good news to a lost generation.
– Thomas Schreiner, Professor of New Testament at SBTS, reviews Bishop Tom Wright’s recent book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church – at 9 Marks.
Earlier posts: on Tom Schreiner, on Bishop N T Wright. (Update: David Virtue has a related commentary on recent statements from Bishop Wright – at Virtue Online.)
If I were a Patron
What can be done to halt the Liberal drift of the Church of England identified at the post-GAFCON gathering at All Souls Langham place on the 1st July?
The answer is not “Sign a petition in support of the GAFCON principles,” although I suggest you do exactly that…
The problem with the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration, is that it declares what every minister working for the Church of England is required to declare on their appointment. …
– John Richardson reminds us of the influence of patrons and parish representatives in the appointment of a parish minister. At the Ugley Vicar.
‘Figure behind Anglican schism is a puritan who sees no room for compromise’
Until a few weeks ago few people outside the city where he preaches would have been familiar with Peter Jensen. …
The 64-year-old cleric, one of the architects of the Global Anglican Future Conference, Gafcon, the new power bloc that rejects a liberal stance towards homosexual clergy and same-sex unions and which plans to “reassert the authority of the Bible”, has been a thorn in the side of Australian Anglicans for years. …
– Story by Barbara McMahon in Sydney for The Guardian.
(These excerpts give a feel for the story – “puritanism, power bloc, thorn in the side, limited parish experience, inner circle, said to rule the diocese with an iron hand, churns out hardline evangelicals, fundamentalism, narrow, almost worshipped, a threat, bullies, culture of fear”.) Photo: Joy Gwaltney.
Peter Jensen: We should not be naive
The Sydney Morning Herald today publishes an op-ed by Archbishop Peter Jensen –
“We should not be naive about the slow and steady influence of revisionist teaching and why the seven men who lead some of the largest Anglican churches in the world have decided to stand up and be counted. …”
– Read it in The Sydney Morning Herald. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney.)
GAFCON is vital for the Anglican Communion
If the current dispute is merely a matter of different perspectives and emphases, as the Archbishop of Canterbury suggests, why are the bishops who are promoting this different gospel driving people out of their churches and removing licences from priests such as Dr Packer?
Gafcon became necessary following the persistent failure of the current authorities in the Anglican Communion to do anything about this deliberate flouting of Christian teaching and decisions of the whole Anglican Communion and its leadership. …
– Canon Chris Sugden writes in The Guardian.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…