The sad legacy of Krister Stendahl
Krister Stendahl, former dean of the Harvard Divinity School, and one of the leading liberal theologians of the last century, died in Boston last month.
The New York Times published an obituary on April 16.
(Photo credit: James Solheim of the Episcopal News Service took this photo at the consecration of Gene Robinson in 2003. Bishop Krister Stendahl is seated immediately to the right of the then Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold.)
What (or Who) is missing in VeggieTales?
Have you ever seen the episode of VeggieTales in which the main characters are martyred by anti-Christian terrorists? You know, the one in which Bell Z. Bulb, the giant garlic demon, and Nero Caesar Salad, the tyrannical vegetable dictator, take on the heroes for their faith in Christ. Remember how it ends? Remember the cold dead eyes of Larry the cucumber behind glass, pickled for the sake of the Gospel? …
– Russell Moore, Dean of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, reflects on who’s missing in the popular children’s show – and much contemporary preaching. See his article at The Henry Institute website.
(On a lighter note, you might enjoy this.)
Why I am not signing the Evangelical Manifesto
So why am I not going to sign An Evangelical Manifesto? As usual, the devil is in the details. As I grow more mature in years I am more and more aware of just how wise Billy Graham’s policy is of never signing statements you haven’t written yourself. …
– Richard Land writes for Baptist Press. See also our earlier item.
Philippi or Corinth: Where is the Anglican Communion?
As I sit here at the beginning of May, one major question is facing all those who want to uphold the truth of the gospel in the Anglican Communion: should we go to Lambeth? Of course, for most of us that’s an academic question – we don’t have an invitation (although that’s not stopping some).
Nevertheless we have an emotional investment in the issue, for the question of how much we associate with those that we disagree with is (or at least should be) a constant dilemma for those who take the Scripture seriously, especially where there is clear evidence of willful unrepentance in the matter of public sin. …
– David Ould responds to those who “make a case for orthodox attendance at Lambeth by framing the current divisions in the context of Paul’s letter to the Philippians”. Read it at Stand Firm.
Why ‘evangelicals’ are returning to Rome
The February 2008 edition of Christianity Today ran a cover story about evangelicals looking to the ancient Roman Catholic Church in order to find beliefs and practices. What was shocking about the article was that both the author of the article and the senior managing editor of CT claim that this trip back to Rome is a good thing. …
– Seeing strong parallels with Hebrews, Bob DeWaay writes, “The Roman Catholic Church has tangibility that is unmatched by the evangelical faith, just as temple Judaism had.”
‘How about a fresh cup of reality?’
Among Anglican bloggers, there has been a great deal of comment on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s video about his hopes for Lambeth. American Anglican blogger BabyBlue has posted an entertaining, but serious, comment –
Something is missing from the video. It’s often called the “Elephant in the Room,” … the question we ask is how can any bishop trust another bishop when the chief pastor bishop cannot even admit that there is “division of the first magnitude” going on outside his palace gates? …
What we see here instead, is an Archbishop of Canterbury who has created an environment free from bishops suing laity, bishops suing clergy, bishops defrocking clergy, bishops deposing bishops, bishops suing bishops, bishops wigging out so much that judgment flies out the window and they start threatening to defrock the general editor of the English Standard Version of the Bible, for heaven’s sake. Hello? Apparently, none of that is visible from inside this ivory tower. Pull up a comfy chair. A full course of denial is on the menu.
See her full post – complete with The Parrot Sketch – here.
Liberal theology and theological education
President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Al Mohler, tells a cautionary tale of what can happen to formerly strong evangelical theological colleges –
“Andover Theological Seminary was indeed the first freestanding seminary in the United States … ‘started by orthodox Calvinists who fled Harvard after it embraced Unitarianism’. But then look at the fact that today one-fourth of the students enrolled in the school are Unitarian-Universalists. The school is also tied to the United Church of Christ, the nation’s most liberal mainline denomination. The school now represents the very beliefs its founders sought to oppose. …”
– from Al Mohler’s blog.
A Christian celebrity?
“A few years back I attended a conference celebrating the 300th anniversary of Jonathan Edwards. J. I. Packer was one of the keynote speakers and I was eager to get a book autographed by him. I purchased a hardcover 20th anniversary edition of Knowing God, and made a beeline for Packer after the conclusion of his presentation.
For 30 minutes after his speech he was swarmed by scores of young men, some asking questions, others seeking advice, most simply listening, all seeking to have him autograph something. Two things happened during that time that I will never forget. The first is something Packer wrote, the second is something he refused to. …”
– Josh Gelatt writes on J. I. Packer’s legacy of leading with humility.
A ‘pregnant man’?
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn’t,” the famed literary character Alice quipped. “And contrary wise; what it is wouldn’t be, and what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”
The aforementioned quote from Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” seems to be nonsense. But if you read it again slowly – very slowly – you will see that it adequately sums up the current state of sexual dysfunction in America. …
Kelly Boggs comments on the story that’s gripped many media outlets in the last week – from Baptist Press. (Kelly Boggs’ photo from Baptist Press.)
New Tribes of the Internet Age
Writing in The Times, Fleur Britten tells of a class of ‘Digital Nomads’ who dwell in coffee shops and wherever wireless hotspots are found. These new workers are a professional class that needs no office and have nothing but a digital address. …
The Digital Natives and Digital Nomads also represent a significant missiological and evangelistic challenge for the Christian church. …
– on reaching the world of today with the gospel – from SBTS President Al Mohler.
Episcopal confusion in San Joaquin
“In December of 2007, the convention of the Diocese of San Joaquin voted to remove any constitutional link between itself and the Episcopal Church and affiliate instead with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone… It was not, however, a clean break. Some seven of the diocese’s 47 congregations clearly elected – with no particular surprises here – to remain connected to TEC and therefore sever their relationship with Bishop Schofield and the departing/departed convention. …”
– Commentary in the Midwest Conservative Journal over confusing legal questions around the ‘Special Convention’ to be convened in the Diocese of San Joaquin today by the Presiding Bishop.
See also the website of the ‘reconstituted’ TEC Diocese of San Joaquin.
Why the Global Anglican Future Conference is Necessary
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Communion Office, Middle East bishops, Episcopal Church liberal bishops, Church of England liberals and some 25 Church of England evangelical bishops wish that the June meeting of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in the Middle East would either evaporate, or, at a minimum, be little more than a prelude to the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury. …
– Opinion from David Virtue on VirtueOnline.
Silly Rabbit, Easter’s Not for Kids
No cross this Easter for some US Sunday School lessons –
“In order to be sensitive to the physical, intellectual, and emotional development of preschoolers, First Look has chosen not to include the Easter story in our curriculum. Instead, we are focusing on the Last Supper, when Jesus shared a meal and spent time with the people He loved. We have made this choice because the crucifixion is simply too violent for preschoolers. And if we were to skip the crucifixion and go straight to the resurrection, then preschoolers would be confused.”
Read the story by Russell Moore at the Resurgence.
Lambeth: To Go or Not To Go II: Tips for Take-overs
There have been two significant responses elicited by recent developments within the Anglican Communion. I would like to analyse what has been said – and left unsaid – and where it’s all heading.
The first response is that of the Statement by the Province of SE Asia. I begin, though, with the second, the Reflections of Bishop Mouneer Anis on the Joint Standing Committee where he shared with the world his bleak perspective on the future of the Anglican Communion. …
Opinion-piece by Dr Lisa Severine Nolland on Anglican Mainstream.
Virtue Viewpoints: Bishops Schofield & Cox Deposed…
It was a week that saw further disintegration and separation from The Episcopal Church of its godly remnant.
The House of Bishops met in Camp Allen, Texas, and did a number of predictable things. …
David Virtue has posted his roundup of this week’s events in the Anglican Communion at VirtueOnline.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…