Celebrating one giant leap for the gospel
St. John’s Cathedral at Parramatta is celebrating 200 years since Samuel Marsden’s first Mission to New Zealand at their 10:00am service on Sunday 20th July. David Pettett will be the guest speaker. (PDF flyer.)
As well, the book Launching Marsden’s Mission, edited by Peter Bolt and David Pettett, will be launched.
(Contributors include Greg Anderson, Peter Bolt, Malcolm Falloon, Michael Gladwin, Meredith Lake, Simon Manchester, Malcolm Prentis, David Pettett and Craig Schwarze.)
The Christian origins of NAIDOC week
“This week is NAIDOC week across Australia, celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. What many don’t realise is that it was Aboriginal Christians that started NAIDOC week. Specifically, it was the initiative of an Aboriginal Christian, William Cooper, who asked the churches to start praying for aborigines on what would become known as ‘Aboriginies Sunday.’…”
– Dominic Steele writes at The Briefing.
Happy birthday to Samuel Marsden
Today marks the 249th birthday of Samuel Marsden, the second Chaplain to the Colony of New South Wales.
Marsden is reviled by some in Australia, but remembered with thanksgiving in New Zealand.
David Pettett wrote about him at Theological Theology a while back.
Free eBook on Isaac Watts
“In an age of simplistic and repetitive choruses, many churches are rediscovering the blessing of theologically rich and biblically informed songs. In the latest addition to our A Long Line of Godly Men Profile series, Douglas Bond introduces us to Isaac Watts, ‘the father of English hymnody.’…”
– free eBook from Ligonier Ministries during May 2014.
What actually happened on Resurrection Day? A clear and simple account
“Many detractors of the Christian message claim that the four accounts of Jesus’ resurrection contain discrepancies that are irreconcilable and so fatal to the Gospels’ authenticity and truth. Contrary to these claims, the extraordinary events of that amazing day can be told in a clear and simple account.
It was Sunday, the 5th April AD 33, and the action began around dawn with exactly three women involved…”
– Dr. Peter Bolt explores what happened on Resurrection Day.
(Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Remembering Archbishop Marcus Loane
Today marks the 5th anniversary of the death of Sir Marcus Loane, Archbishop of Sydney from 1966 to 1982 and Primate of Australian 1979 to 1982. (Thanks to Greg Blaxland for the reminder.)
Perhaps it’s a good time to pause to give thanks for him and his legacy in Sydney and beyond.
Here are a few articles from the archives –
- Statement from Archbishop Peter Jensen – 14 April 2009
- Dean Phillip Jensen’s tribute – 17 April 2009.
- Archbishop Marcus Loane photo gallery.
- Remembering with gratitude Sir Marcus Loane, on the Centenary of his birth – 14 October 2011.
- Sydney Synod gives thanks for Marcus Loane – 18 October 2011.
- The Marcus I Knew and Loved – an appreciation by Greg Blaxland.
The Final Days of Jesus: Palm Sunday
Justin Taylor introduces the first of a series of videos to be released this week on the theme of “The Final Days of Jesus”.
Professors Douglas Moo (pictured) and Andreas Köstenberger provide valuable background to the events of Holy Week.
They are an accompaniment to the book “The Final Days of Jesus”. (Availability.)
Leon Morris and the Cross of Christ — Ridley lecture
The Rev. Neil Bach, who is writing a biography of Leon Morris, delivered this lecture at Ridley College Melbourne to mark the Centenary of Morris’ birth.
See also Peter Adam’s words of thanksgiving.
The life and ministry of Deaconess Mary Andrews
The life and ministry of Deaconess Mary Andrews is the focus of this year’s Moore College Library Day – Saturday, May 10th 2014. Details from the College.
The False Teachers: Charles Taze Russell
Tim Challies has been writing a series on false teachers.
This week he turns to Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Mohler on Spurgeon
Albert Mohler delivered the annual Spurgeon Lecture at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Florida last week. He looks at Spurgeon in his intellectual and cultural context.
See it here via the Gospel Coalition.
(From 23:20, there’s mention of Bishop Colenso, whose actions precipitated the first Lambeth Conference.)
Remembering Leon Morris on the Centenary of his birth
Australian theologian Leon Morris was born one hundred years ago this weekend – on March 15th 1914.
The current Principal of Ridley College Melbourne, Dr, Brian Rosner, has a tribute. (Photo: Ridley College.)
If you are not familiar with the writings of Leon Morris, you can read three articles on the Church Society website:
The Person of Christ (1960).
The Authority of the Bible Today (1961, PDF file).
Christian Worship (1962, PDF file).
And if you can obtain a copy (and especially if you have some Greek), take the time to read his The Apostolic Preaching of The Cross – The Tyndale Press, London, 1955) – an enormously important book still today.
That book “is an attempt to understand certain key words, words which are crucial to the New Testament picture of the atonement, by seeing them against the background of the Greek Old Testament, the papyri, and the Rabbinic writings. Armed with our discoveries, we then proceed to examine them in their New Testament setting…” – from the Preface to the First Edition.
Update: Sandy Grant has just published this at The Briefing.
The False Teachers: Pelagius
“Pelagius believed that man had not been entirely corrupted by Adam’s fall and that he could, by his own free will, do works that pleased God, and thus be saved.”
– In his new series on The False Teachers, Tim Challies turns to write about Pelagius.
Happy 70th Birthday to Tyndale House
“70 years ago today, with the War still raging, Tyndale House was purchased for just 4,500 pounds Sterling to be established as a residential centre for biblical research.
Since then many hundreds of scholars have been supported and equipped through Tyndale House to serve the church. Around 300 PhD theses have been substantially written in our library. The Bible translations alone that have been produced by scholars who have spent time here have reached millions, and the impact of scholarship from Tyndale House has been global. We’re thankful to God for this and look to him for the future.”
– from an e-mail from Tyndale House in Cambridge.
A young Broughton Knox, then in the UK, was convinced of the worth of such an institution. According to the minutes of the meeting of the group that set up Tyndale House, the motion that it be a residential library and not simply a library, was moved by DBK.
See this video introduction to Tyndale House.
The False Teachers: Arius
“This morning I am setting out on a new series of articles that will scan the history of the church – from its earliest days all the way to the present time – and pause to examine some of Christianity’s most notorious false teachers. …
We will begin this morning with one of the very first, and certainly one of the most dangerous, false teachers: Arius.” – Tim Challies begins a new series.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…