Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism
Brand new from The Latimer Trust in the UK:
Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism: J.Gresham Machen and the Presbyterian Controversy of 1922–1937 by Lee Gatiss.
At the beginning of the last century a more liberal way of interpreting Christianity began to grow in popularity. Traditional believers in many denominations are currently reaping the fruit of a failure to heed the stark warnings about liberalism given at that time by American theologian J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937). Much of what happened in the Presbyterian Church of which he was a part will sound eerily familiar to Anglicans today.
This book examines key battlegrounds in the conflict between conservative, liberal, and so-called ‘moderate’ Christians in the early 20th Century – training for ministry, the denomination’s attitude towards money, and competing notions of mission.
Machen’s principles eventually led him to leave both his seminary and his denomination to create new institutions. But did Machen get it right about how to combat liberalism? Even while we acknowledge his theological insight, should we also be wary of repeating his mistakes?
Lee Gatiss is Associate Minister of St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate in the City of London and Editor of The Theologian: The Internet Journal for Integrated Theology at www.theologian.org.uk.
The book can be ordered from The Latimer Trust.
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.
The Two ‘Courts’
“There are two ‘courts’ we must deal with: the court of God in Heaven and the court of conscience in our souls.
When we first trust in Christ for salvation, God’s court is forever satisfied. Never again will a charge of guilt be brought against us in Heaven. Our consciences, however, are continually pronouncing us guilty. That is the function of conscience. Therefore, we must by faith bring the verdict of conscience into line with the verdict of Heaven. We do this by agreeing with our conscience about our guilt, but then reminding it that our guilt has already been borne by Christ.”
– Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace. (With thanks to Of First Importance.)
Preach what’s True and Precious
“A word to preachers. Truth and falsehood is a good pair of categories to use when deciding what to preach. Speak truth not falsehood.
But there is another crucial pair of categories. God tells Jeremiah that he must use this pair if he would be faithful…”
– Brief advice to preachers from John Piper.
The authority of the Bible – Leon Morris
Australian New Testament scholar Dr Leon Morris on the authority of the Bible –
“It is especially important in the contemporary situation that evangelicals bear their witness to the authority of the Bible. Men have lost their best certainties, and in many cases are groping for an authority they can trust. One result of the work of modernists and extreme liberals has been to undermine men’s faith in the Bible. …”
– from Churchman back in 1961. Relevant then. Even more relevant now. Made available by Church Society (pdf life).
Related: Propositional Revelation, the Only Revelation by Broughton Knox.
The need for clear thinking in this area is illustrated by a story from The Calgary Herald in Canada – “Minister enhances faith through meditation”
Meakin, an Anglican priest, was introduced to Christian meditation by her spiritual director while in seminary. … “There are many factors in how we interpret the spiritual life, but once you set aside the words, we can recognize our unity…” (emphasis added.)
Don’t Desire Wealth
John Piper:
I can smell it. It’s like toast or steak or brownies. It doesn’t just draw our desire, it creates desire. Deep drops in the stock market make many people salivate. They know it will rebound. They are sitting on cash. By year’s end their pile could ride the recovery to riches.
For such people I have a word from God. Read more
Repentance and the Church of England
Lee Gatiss, co-ordinator of Reform London, spoke at a joint Reform London – London Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship meeting on Wednesday:
I’ve been preaching on Hebrews for the last month or so, and it’s struck me how penetrating some of the application of this book is for us today in the Church of England.
So a few weeks ago we looked on a Sunday morning at the great warning in chapter 2 verse 1 that “we must pay more careful attention to what we have heard (from Christ) lest we drift away from it.” For if we do drift, we will not escape God’s judgment. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?…
God spoke on all the issues we’ll be discussing tonight, everything facing the Church of England, but we didn’t listen. And so the deceitfulness of sin has led us further and further away from the living God.
That probably means that it won’t be long before simple superstition takes over in the upper echelons on our Church. Anglican bishops will be going on pilgrimages to Lourdes and praying to Mary or something daft like that next.”
– Read the full talk at Reform London.
‘Gay wedding’ liturgy analysed
This is the first of a series of posts looking at the news this morning that a London Anglican Clergyman “married” two other male priests in a ceremony that mimicked marriage.
This post looks at the liturgy used in that service and compares it to a BCP marriage service to show that the explanation that this was only intented to be “a blessing” is specious.”
– from Peter Ould in the UK (hat tip to Anglican Mainstream).
Update: Peter has followed with a second post – on the theology of the service:
“This leads us to a problem with the liturgy that not only demonstrates how its actions runs counter to Scripture, but also presents a significant issue for the Church of England to address if no disciplinary action is taken on those who carried it out. Having identical vows for both partners of a same-sex marriage, while at the same time drawing on the Ephesians 5 model for those vows, implies that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding in the church’s application of Ephesians 5 up to this point. The BCP service indicates clearly that the sexual distinctiveness of the two partners is critical to understanding the mystery of the sexual union of the spouses – the gay union liturgy implies that it is not.”
Note also the video of this BBC interview with the Rev. Martin Dudley, who conducted the service.
The Gospel According to N T Wright
In this week’s episode of The White Horse Inn broadcast, Michael Horton and friends turn to the theology of the Bishop of Durham N T Wright – and the teaching of the New Perspective.
See also this earlier post on Mike Ovey’s review of John Piper’s book “The Future of Justification: A Response to NT Wright”.
Authority in the Church – Resource paper
We posted a link to this very helpful paper back in February. In the run-up to Lambeth (next month) and GAFCON (this month) it’s well worth reading –
“At this present moment of crisis, there is hardly a more important issue for us to address than that of authority in the church. It is certainly true that God’s people need to keep returning to the question of authority. The legacy of the rebellion in the Garden of Eden ensures that even those who have tasted God’s extraordinary generosity and mercy too readily assert their own opinions and preferences as the measure of all things. …”
– An important resource paper written by Dr Mark Thompson, Academic Dean of Moore Theological College and President of the Anglican Church League.
It was presented to the GAFCON Theology Resource Group and can be read in full on the GAFCON website.
Overview of the teaching of Rowan Williams on Scripture and sexuality
David Phillips, General Secretary of Church Society, summarises a SPREAD report on the theology of Rowan Williams. It’s available as a PDF file and is also published in the current issue of CrossWay.
Read it here. See also this earlier Latimer Trust paper by Garry Williams entitled, “The Theology of Rowan Williams”.
A new Marian dogma?
“In February a letter was published from four Roman Catholic Cardinals and apparently over 500 Bishops and 7 million laity requesting a ‘solemn definition’ of the aspects of the Roman teaching on Mary… this is what they are seeking in such a definition: regarding Mary Most Holy as the Spiritual Mother of all humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the Redeemer, Mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one Mediator, and Advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.”
In the light of the coming World Youth Day in Sydney, it’s worth reading this article by David Phillips, General Secretary of Church Society, in the current issue of Crossway. (PDF)
The Limits of Fellowship – Phillip D Jensen
This important address given by Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, at the Sydney Lambeth Decision Briefing on March 14 has attracted widespread interest.
Although it is already available as a 70 minute audio file and a PDF file, we are also making it available as a web page, for greater accessibility.
Click here to read it all – in our Resources section.
The Cross
“I find no balm for a sore conscience, and a troubled heart, like the sight of Jesus dying for me on the accursed tree.
There I see that a full payment has been made for all my enormous debts. The curse of that law which I have broken has come down on One who there suffered in my stead. The demands of that law are all satisfied. Payment has been made for me, even to the uttermost farthing. It will not be required twice over.
Ah! I might sometimes imagine I was too bad to be forgiven. My own heart sometimes whispers that I am too wicked to be saved. But I know in my better moments this is all my foolish unbelief. I read an answer to my doubts in the blood shed on Calvary. I feel sure that there is a way to heaven for the very vilest of men, when I look at the cross.”
– J.C. Ryle, Old Paths . Courtesy First Importance.
Can the Church reach out without selling out?
The Nashville Conference on the Church and Theology was held at the Nashville Community Bible Church February 10-12.
The topic?: Can the Church reach out without selling out? Speakers: Don Carson, Steve Lawson, Tim Challies.
The audio of the talks is now available at ReformationUnderway.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…