"The conversation of interfaith dialogue is always one where we look eagerly and expectantly for enrichment. We're not playing for victory, we're seeking understanding from one another," declared the Archbishop of Canterbury at the launch of the Hindu Christian Forum at Lambeth Palace last week.
In that astonishing remark the divergence between the attitude of the liberal Anglican establishment and that of Christ's Apostles is on full display.
Christians are not playing for victory indeed. According to the New Testament, over an idolatrous religion such as Hinduism, we certainly should be.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul, having affirmed the historicity of Christ's bodily resurrection and its guarantee of the future resurrection of all who are in Christ, give thanks to God for giving us the 'victory' through our Lord Jesus Christ (v57). He then exhorts his Christian readers in the Corinthian church to 'be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord' (v58 - King James Version).
In the context of 1 Corinthians, the work in which Christians are to abound, labour that is not 'in vain' in the light of Christ's resurrection victory, includes standing firm for Christ in the face of idolatry.
This is the epistle in which Paul exhorts his Christian readers to 'flee from idolatry' (10v14) and declares that 'the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye have fellowship with devils' (10v20).
The multi-faith issue facing the Western Church is arguably much more serious than the divergence over human sexuality. It is quite possible that the primacy of heterosexual marriage will come back into fashion by the end of this century. It is glaringly obvious that the departure from this bedrock of stable society is inflicting huge damage on the West.
It is quite possible that a hybrid religion capturing the Western soul would seek to restore the central place of heterosexual marriage and the family in society. But such a religion, combining elements of Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, would be a high-road to hell.
For all its social morality, it would not be a saving faith, for it would deny the supremacy and exclusiveness of the victorious Lord Jesus Christ.
If UK Christians listen to Dr Williams and stop playing for victory, then eternal salvation is lost to the next generation.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Monday, 21 November 2011
WHY BANKERS WERE GOOD
Hopefully Private Eye editor Ian Hislop's BBC programme about Victorian financiers - When bankers were good - will properly explain why they were.
The answer very clearly is that Victorian Britain was saturated with biblical values in the wake of the 18th century evangelical revival. Evangelical Christianity teaches that the whole of life is impacted by the truth of the gospel. That means one should earn one's money in an ethical manner and use it for the love of God and of one's neighbour.
Such a spiritual and moral culture thus conduced to bankers with active consciences moved to virtue, in contrast to the financiers spawned by de-Christianised Britain.
My Hislop's own position in relation to Christian Britain is interesting. He clearly has some sort of spiritual sympathy with it, having presented a previous BBC series about Victorian philanthropists.
But the magazine he edits was a product of the 1960s, the decade which set the hounds on Christian Britain. Private Eye, launched in 1961, belongs to the Beyond the Fringe satirical movement championed by its former proprietor, the late Mr Peter Cook, which set out to lampoon authority and undermine respect for the then British establishment.
The current corrosive cynicism about politicians, in fact more accurately the nihilism about political engagement, has its roots in that godless movement.
The antidote to greedy bankers, corrupt politicians, and a cynical public is evangelical Christianity. That antidote was active in Victorian Britain when rich people were more inclined to listen to Jesus Christ: "Take heed and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth (Luke 12v15 - King James Version)."
Mr Hislop's moral position would be more consistent if he preached that message, forsaking the cynical cultural Baal of Private Eye, now ironically a journal the Ahabesque British establishment is quite comfortable with.
This also appeared on Heresy Corner.
The answer very clearly is that Victorian Britain was saturated with biblical values in the wake of the 18th century evangelical revival. Evangelical Christianity teaches that the whole of life is impacted by the truth of the gospel. That means one should earn one's money in an ethical manner and use it for the love of God and of one's neighbour.
Such a spiritual and moral culture thus conduced to bankers with active consciences moved to virtue, in contrast to the financiers spawned by de-Christianised Britain.
My Hislop's own position in relation to Christian Britain is interesting. He clearly has some sort of spiritual sympathy with it, having presented a previous BBC series about Victorian philanthropists.
But the magazine he edits was a product of the 1960s, the decade which set the hounds on Christian Britain. Private Eye, launched in 1961, belongs to the Beyond the Fringe satirical movement championed by its former proprietor, the late Mr Peter Cook, which set out to lampoon authority and undermine respect for the then British establishment.
The current corrosive cynicism about politicians, in fact more accurately the nihilism about political engagement, has its roots in that godless movement.
The antidote to greedy bankers, corrupt politicians, and a cynical public is evangelical Christianity. That antidote was active in Victorian Britain when rich people were more inclined to listen to Jesus Christ: "Take heed and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth (Luke 12v15 - King James Version)."
Mr Hislop's moral position would be more consistent if he preached that message, forsaking the cynical cultural Baal of Private Eye, now ironically a journal the Ahabesque British establishment is quite comfortable with.
This also appeared on Heresy Corner.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
TRUSTFUL EVANGELICAL COLLABORATION IN BLACKBURN
This by Cranmer's Curate appeared in this week's Church of England Newspaper:
“I read the news today oh boy/Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire,” sang the Beatles in their celebrated 1967 song Day in the Life. Probably not so well known is the fact that the former mill-town to the world is surrounded by beautiful countryside with some gorgeous cricket grounds. The town itself, however, is a sticky wicket for the Gospel.
For the sake of Christ’s mission to their town, three parishes on the west side of Blackburn are involved in a positive conservative evangelical collaboration. They are St Andrew’s, St Barnabas', and Christ Church with St Matthew’s. Rev. Jonathan Milton-Thompson is vicar of St Andrew’s and priest-in-charge of St Barnabas'. The Rev. Andrew Raynes is vicar of Christ Church. His associate minister is the Rev. James Terry.
Mr Raynes is also Area Dean (Blackburn with Darwen) for the three parishes in a mainly Affirming Catholic and Traditional Catholic diocese. St Andrew’s has a regular morning congregation of around 40 adults with 20 under 16s; St Barnabas has 30 adults with 10 under 16s; Christ Church has 90 adults with 25 under 16s.
The three parishes are sharing an evening service, which takes place at Christ Church. Mr Milton-Thompson preaches twice a term at the 30-strong service. They also collaborate with a teenage youth group called ‘Blast’. The third element is a mid-week lunch-time Bible talk in Blackburn's Central Methodist Church.
The collaboration began out of necessity in 2008 when Mr Milton-Thompson, 60, had a minor stroke and needed help with his evening service. Mr Raynes suggested a joint service. The venture works "because of shared churchmanship and also personalities", says Mr Milton-Thompson. "I get on with Andrew and James. I don’t feel any sort of strain."
St Andrew's and St Barnabas' provide up to 10 of the evening congregation. A case could be made that the smaller churches should share the hosting of the service with Christ Church so that their PCCs properly own it. However, predictability of venue is an important factor in seeking to grow an evening service. Mr Milton-Thompson, described by a senior colleague as a 'go-for-it guy', says Christ Church is always assiduous in plugging his Christianity Explored course as well as theirs.
James Terry, 37, says: “Jonathan preaching helps to tie St Andrew’s into the evening service, so it’s not just a Christ Church thing.”
The three face particular ministry challenges with the large Muslim population in Blackburn, though Mr Milton-Thompson declares that “the indigenous white community is also a serious challenge and usually seems to be less interested in talking religion than our Muslim neighbours”.
National newspapers can understate the proportion of Muslims in Blackburn by including Darwen, the area south of Blackburn, in the statistics. According to the 2001 census, the local authority area of Blackburn with Darwen had 137,000 residents of whom 19.4 per cent were Muslim. So one national newspaper declared that one is five people in Blackburn is Muslim.
Mr Milton-Thompson says the inclusion of Darwen, a mainly white area “on the other side of the motorway” (M65), skews the figure. The Parliamentary Constituency of Blackburn, which includes the three parishes and has the Rt. Hon. Jack Straw as MP, has 101,000 residents of whom a higher proportion are Muslim than in the local authority area.
Damian Talbot, chair of Blackburn Labour Party, puts the number of Muslims in the constituency at around 30,000 (30 per cent). Asked about the prospects for Muslims converting to Christianity, he says: “Jack always describes Blackburn as a big village where everybody knows everybody else. If someone from the Asian community were to convert to Christianity, it would be probably well known in the community around them. I'm not sure how that would work out."
Mr Talbot goes on to say that local Muslim leaders have given assurances about their respect for religious freedom. But clearly it would be the local police who would be closer to the reality of how Muslims who do embrace Christ are treated by their own families and peers.
The Rt. Rev. John Goddard, Bishop of Burnley and suffragan for the three ministers, gives his perspective on the Christian ministry challenge facing the collaborators: “The difficulty of engaging in mission and ministry in Islamic areas is this: how do you have a lively presence and also engage in mission? Particularly from a conservative evangelical point of view, there is the element which wants to look towards conversion, which is part of the spectrum but not the whole spectrum of mission. I do believe there needs to be a lot of work done to win respect and honour and dialogue is a way in for that. These three parishes, with Andrew and James and Jonathan, have pastors of deep conviction and deep engagement.”
Clearly, as those who fully assent to the Church of England's 39 Articles of Religion, the three would undertake 'dialogue' with Muslims on the firm understanding that Islam cannot provide salvation, "for holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved" (Article 18 - Of obtaining eternal salvation only by the Name of Christ).
The Archdeacon of Blackburn, the Ven. John Hawley, reflects on the benefit of the shared theological outlook of the churches in the cluster: “In a tough inner city area when we have issues of poverty and a significant Asian Heritage Muslim presence, it is helpful to have similar churchmanship because the other issues are so challenging. In a different context, say rural, a mix of churchmanship might be helpful.”
He continues: “In this context it's got to be a conservative evangelical cluster because of their understanding of the Gospel and mission and evangelism. If you are going to bring people together in an area they have to have a common bond and that has to be their churchmanship as well as their Christian commitment. You have to bring churches together of similar churchmanship to make the best of the resources."
Despite the special Islamic challenge these ministers face, their collaboration certainly has wider application for the Church of England. Small churches struggle to provide evening services and youth groups for teenagers, so sharing resources is manifestly a sensible way forward.
And more generally clustering is becoming an increasing necessity in the Church of England as resources dwindle. Shared churchmanship for clusters is clearly a huge benefit, as this collaboration demonstrates and as the senior staff of Blackburn have the wit to recognise.
The other vital dimension to this collaboration is the trust between the ministers. Common churchmanship does not always guarantee trust. In English conservative evangelicalism, smaller churches can feel that larger churches are happy to provide preachers but will not encourage people commuting out of their parishes to the eclectic congregation to support their struggling local church.
In this cluster, there is no evidence of imperialism on the part of the largest and best resourced of the three, Christ Church, but rather a servant-hearted, Christ-like desire to support and nurture the ministry and mission of the smaller two churches.
This - Tinker Tailor Spiritual Disaster - appeared on VirtueOnline.
“I read the news today oh boy/Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire,” sang the Beatles in their celebrated 1967 song Day in the Life. Probably not so well known is the fact that the former mill-town to the world is surrounded by beautiful countryside with some gorgeous cricket grounds. The town itself, however, is a sticky wicket for the Gospel.
For the sake of Christ’s mission to their town, three parishes on the west side of Blackburn are involved in a positive conservative evangelical collaboration. They are St Andrew’s, St Barnabas', and Christ Church with St Matthew’s. Rev. Jonathan Milton-Thompson is vicar of St Andrew’s and priest-in-charge of St Barnabas'. The Rev. Andrew Raynes is vicar of Christ Church. His associate minister is the Rev. James Terry.
Mr Raynes is also Area Dean (Blackburn with Darwen) for the three parishes in a mainly Affirming Catholic and Traditional Catholic diocese. St Andrew’s has a regular morning congregation of around 40 adults with 20 under 16s; St Barnabas has 30 adults with 10 under 16s; Christ Church has 90 adults with 25 under 16s.
The three parishes are sharing an evening service, which takes place at Christ Church. Mr Milton-Thompson preaches twice a term at the 30-strong service. They also collaborate with a teenage youth group called ‘Blast’. The third element is a mid-week lunch-time Bible talk in Blackburn's Central Methodist Church.
The collaboration began out of necessity in 2008 when Mr Milton-Thompson, 60, had a minor stroke and needed help with his evening service. Mr Raynes suggested a joint service. The venture works "because of shared churchmanship and also personalities", says Mr Milton-Thompson. "I get on with Andrew and James. I don’t feel any sort of strain."
St Andrew's and St Barnabas' provide up to 10 of the evening congregation. A case could be made that the smaller churches should share the hosting of the service with Christ Church so that their PCCs properly own it. However, predictability of venue is an important factor in seeking to grow an evening service. Mr Milton-Thompson, described by a senior colleague as a 'go-for-it guy', says Christ Church is always assiduous in plugging his Christianity Explored course as well as theirs.
James Terry, 37, says: “Jonathan preaching helps to tie St Andrew’s into the evening service, so it’s not just a Christ Church thing.”
The three face particular ministry challenges with the large Muslim population in Blackburn, though Mr Milton-Thompson declares that “the indigenous white community is also a serious challenge and usually seems to be less interested in talking religion than our Muslim neighbours”.
National newspapers can understate the proportion of Muslims in Blackburn by including Darwen, the area south of Blackburn, in the statistics. According to the 2001 census, the local authority area of Blackburn with Darwen had 137,000 residents of whom 19.4 per cent were Muslim. So one national newspaper declared that one is five people in Blackburn is Muslim.
Mr Milton-Thompson says the inclusion of Darwen, a mainly white area “on the other side of the motorway” (M65), skews the figure. The Parliamentary Constituency of Blackburn, which includes the three parishes and has the Rt. Hon. Jack Straw as MP, has 101,000 residents of whom a higher proportion are Muslim than in the local authority area.
Damian Talbot, chair of Blackburn Labour Party, puts the number of Muslims in the constituency at around 30,000 (30 per cent). Asked about the prospects for Muslims converting to Christianity, he says: “Jack always describes Blackburn as a big village where everybody knows everybody else. If someone from the Asian community were to convert to Christianity, it would be probably well known in the community around them. I'm not sure how that would work out."
Mr Talbot goes on to say that local Muslim leaders have given assurances about their respect for religious freedom. But clearly it would be the local police who would be closer to the reality of how Muslims who do embrace Christ are treated by their own families and peers.
The Rt. Rev. John Goddard, Bishop of Burnley and suffragan for the three ministers, gives his perspective on the Christian ministry challenge facing the collaborators: “The difficulty of engaging in mission and ministry in Islamic areas is this: how do you have a lively presence and also engage in mission? Particularly from a conservative evangelical point of view, there is the element which wants to look towards conversion, which is part of the spectrum but not the whole spectrum of mission. I do believe there needs to be a lot of work done to win respect and honour and dialogue is a way in for that. These three parishes, with Andrew and James and Jonathan, have pastors of deep conviction and deep engagement.”
Clearly, as those who fully assent to the Church of England's 39 Articles of Religion, the three would undertake 'dialogue' with Muslims on the firm understanding that Islam cannot provide salvation, "for holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved" (Article 18 - Of obtaining eternal salvation only by the Name of Christ).
The Archdeacon of Blackburn, the Ven. John Hawley, reflects on the benefit of the shared theological outlook of the churches in the cluster: “In a tough inner city area when we have issues of poverty and a significant Asian Heritage Muslim presence, it is helpful to have similar churchmanship because the other issues are so challenging. In a different context, say rural, a mix of churchmanship might be helpful.”
He continues: “In this context it's got to be a conservative evangelical cluster because of their understanding of the Gospel and mission and evangelism. If you are going to bring people together in an area they have to have a common bond and that has to be their churchmanship as well as their Christian commitment. You have to bring churches together of similar churchmanship to make the best of the resources."
Despite the special Islamic challenge these ministers face, their collaboration certainly has wider application for the Church of England. Small churches struggle to provide evening services and youth groups for teenagers, so sharing resources is manifestly a sensible way forward.
And more generally clustering is becoming an increasing necessity in the Church of England as resources dwindle. Shared churchmanship for clusters is clearly a huge benefit, as this collaboration demonstrates and as the senior staff of Blackburn have the wit to recognise.
The other vital dimension to this collaboration is the trust between the ministers. Common churchmanship does not always guarantee trust. In English conservative evangelicalism, smaller churches can feel that larger churches are happy to provide preachers but will not encourage people commuting out of their parishes to the eclectic congregation to support their struggling local church.
In this cluster, there is no evidence of imperialism on the part of the largest and best resourced of the three, Christ Church, but rather a servant-hearted, Christ-like desire to support and nurture the ministry and mission of the smaller two churches.
This - Tinker Tailor Spiritual Disaster - appeared on VirtueOnline.
Monday, 14 November 2011
WHAT WENT WRONG FOR SIR CLIFF RICHARD?
Sir Cliff Richard used to be a sound Bible-believing evangelical Christian, prepared to articulate counter-cultural views. But sadly not anymore.
His recent supportive noises towards euthanasia - albeit unclear-sounding - are symptomatic of a sea-change of spiritual outlook that, arguably, he has been undergoing over the past decade or so.
It would be simplistic to identify one single cause in this spiritual catastrophe. But Hilary Roberts, of Welwyn Evangelical Church, pinpointed a significant factor in her excellent review of Sir Cliff's autobiography My Life, My Way in Evangelicals Now back in 2008:
Belonging to a local church is so vital for spiritual support and accountability. It is a sad fact that public Christians under particular pressures, such as politicians, pop stars, film actors, professional sportspeople and, it has to be said, bishops, often fall out of belonging to a local church because of their work schedules and lifestyle. Peripatetic attendance at church services cannot substitute for commitment to the local expression of the Body of Christ.
The powerful CH Spurgeon story springs to mind. He visited a man who had become less regular in coming along to church. He did not lecture the man but simply took a coal from the fire, put it on the grate, watched its glow fade out and then left.
This piece by David Jackman in November's EN - Sticking with the church - is highly recommended.
His recent supportive noises towards euthanasia - albeit unclear-sounding - are symptomatic of a sea-change of spiritual outlook that, arguably, he has been undergoing over the past decade or so.
It would be simplistic to identify one single cause in this spiritual catastrophe. But Hilary Roberts, of Welwyn Evangelical Church, pinpointed a significant factor in her excellent review of Sir Cliff's autobiography My Life, My Way in Evangelicals Now back in 2008:
In the early days of his faith he read his Bible regularly and went to church each Sunday. Now he is more relaxed — dipping into the Bible when he feels the need. By his own admission, ‘I stopped going to church regularly a long time ago because it became too difficult. I would tend to be surrounded by people who wanted autographs’. He does emphasise his need to be spiritually fed and that he tried unsuccessfully to overcome the problem. When at his home in Barbados he occasionally goes to a Catholic church — ‘I really enjoy it and I like taking communion — I feel it brings me close to Jesus’.
Belonging to a local church is so vital for spiritual support and accountability. It is a sad fact that public Christians under particular pressures, such as politicians, pop stars, film actors, professional sportspeople and, it has to be said, bishops, often fall out of belonging to a local church because of their work schedules and lifestyle. Peripatetic attendance at church services cannot substitute for commitment to the local expression of the Body of Christ.
The powerful CH Spurgeon story springs to mind. He visited a man who had become less regular in coming along to church. He did not lecture the man but simply took a coal from the fire, put it on the grate, watched its glow fade out and then left.
This piece by David Jackman in November's EN - Sticking with the church - is highly recommended.
Friday, 11 November 2011
TESCO SHAREHOLDERS COULD PAY FOR IDEOLOGICAL PASSION FOR GAY PARADING
Supermarket chain Tesco's decision to sponsor homosexual festival Pride London could be costly, depending on the reaction of those most likely to be morally offended by the move.
Tesco's management may have convinced itself that running a family area at the London WorldPride festival in 2012 can safeguard the company's image as a family-friendly retailer. But if sales are lost from customers who abhor the thought of bringing their children to a global gay pride parade, then Tesco's shareholders will not share the management's perception.
Roman Catholics, evangelical Christians, and Muslims, whose religions are opposed to practising homosexuality, often have large families, meaning that a significant proportion of their weekly budget goes on groceries. A boycott by them of Tesco would be significantly more costly than a boycott by the gay community, which tends to be comprised of smaller households.
Though it is not socially and morally responsible for any company to sponsor homosexual festivals, for the compelling reasons Anglican Mainstream gives, from a purely commercial point of view one can understand vodka brand Smirnoff sponsoring Pride London. Its product fits with the lifestyle many homosexual people choose to pursue. But a grocer like Tesco reliant on the big family shop?
Speaking to a Tesco press officer, Cranmer's Curate got a firm impression that Tesco is ideologically committed to promoting homosexual parading, even passionately so. Its shareholders will of course foot the bill for this ideological commitment, if there is one.
So far there have been no calls from orthodox Christian leaders for a boycott of Tesco. Such calls may come but church leaders would be advised to say that it is an option for Christians rather than insisting on it as a Christian duty.
Each servant of Christ must make up his or her own mind as to whether Tesco has crossed the line here.
This - Dialogue trick on orthodox bishops visiting the West - appeared on US-based orthodox Anglican news service VirtueOnline.
Tesco's management may have convinced itself that running a family area at the London WorldPride festival in 2012 can safeguard the company's image as a family-friendly retailer. But if sales are lost from customers who abhor the thought of bringing their children to a global gay pride parade, then Tesco's shareholders will not share the management's perception.
Roman Catholics, evangelical Christians, and Muslims, whose religions are opposed to practising homosexuality, often have large families, meaning that a significant proportion of their weekly budget goes on groceries. A boycott by them of Tesco would be significantly more costly than a boycott by the gay community, which tends to be comprised of smaller households.
Though it is not socially and morally responsible for any company to sponsor homosexual festivals, for the compelling reasons Anglican Mainstream gives, from a purely commercial point of view one can understand vodka brand Smirnoff sponsoring Pride London. Its product fits with the lifestyle many homosexual people choose to pursue. But a grocer like Tesco reliant on the big family shop?
Speaking to a Tesco press officer, Cranmer's Curate got a firm impression that Tesco is ideologically committed to promoting homosexual parading, even passionately so. Its shareholders will of course foot the bill for this ideological commitment, if there is one.
So far there have been no calls from orthodox Christian leaders for a boycott of Tesco. Such calls may come but church leaders would be advised to say that it is an option for Christians rather than insisting on it as a Christian duty.
Each servant of Christ must make up his or her own mind as to whether Tesco has crossed the line here.
This - Dialogue trick on orthodox bishops visiting the West - appeared on US-based orthodox Anglican news service VirtueOnline.
Monday, 7 November 2011
SERMON IN SHADOW OF DURHAM CATHEDRAL
Cranmer's Curate had a very pleasant few days on his study leave last week at Cranmer Hall, the Anglican evangelical theological college in Durham. The college, as its website points out, is 'in the shadow' of the great and ancient Cathedral of Durham.
It became clear to your curate, however, that such an illustrious location does not guarantee good preaching.
At a service of Holy Communion presided over by a Ugandan bishop in St John's, the Durham University college that incorporates Cranmer Hall, cc heard a sermon by a Methodist minister which was sadly not a good model for future Anglican preachers. It was on Jesus' cleansing of the Temple in John 2.
The preacher, who lectures in the New Testament to ordinands, was a very eloquent, even mesmerising orator. He began by talking about the difficulty of the passage in view of the difference between John and the Synoptic Gospels. We struggle to locate Jesus' cleansing of the Temple, to understand it, and to apply it, he said.
He then emerged from the dust-cloud of difficulty with an impassioned homily about the need to 'take the whip' to injustice, having alluded to the anti-capitalist protests on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. He also spoke of the need to be rigorous with ourselves in our own discipleship. That is a biblical sentiment to be fair but not one taught by the passage, which is about Jesus, God's authoritative Messiah enforcing the divine will for the Temple, whose spiritual purpose the Word made flesh has come to fulfill through his redemptive death and resurrection.
As a village preacher and one-time trade hack, Cranmer's Curate would make no claim to be a heavy-weight biblical expositor. But he has read the Church of England's 39 Articles of the Religion. The Anglican way of interpreting the Word of God written is clearly set out in Article 20, which states that the Church must not 'so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another'.
The right approach to preaching under the authority of God's written Word, therefore, is to treat John's account of the cleansing of the Temple as historical and to teach what the apostolic witness was inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal.
Those present for the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in St John's would have been much better served by a proper explanation of the significance of Jesus' statement in 2v19 in the dispute following the cleansing, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' (RSV), which the disciples grasped after his resurrection.
One of course must not be naive here. Preaching that is not dazzled by the critical approach to Scripture will struggle to find a platform within the academy of an English university. One must also be aware that the term 'evangelical' has become much more elastic in recent years, so a theological college with an evangelical label does not guarantee the right presuppositions regarding the authority and inspiration of Holy Scripture.
Nevertheless, because good biblical preaching is so vital to the spiritual future of the Church of the nation youth group prayers are sorely needed for our foundationally evangelical theological colleges, that they would turn out faithful and capable ministers to preach the Word.
This piece - St Paul's fiasco symptomatic of Anglican confusion - appeared on Christian Today.
This about Stonewall voting Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips Bigot of the Year appeared on Archbishop Cranmer.
It became clear to your curate, however, that such an illustrious location does not guarantee good preaching.
At a service of Holy Communion presided over by a Ugandan bishop in St John's, the Durham University college that incorporates Cranmer Hall, cc heard a sermon by a Methodist minister which was sadly not a good model for future Anglican preachers. It was on Jesus' cleansing of the Temple in John 2.
The preacher, who lectures in the New Testament to ordinands, was a very eloquent, even mesmerising orator. He began by talking about the difficulty of the passage in view of the difference between John and the Synoptic Gospels. We struggle to locate Jesus' cleansing of the Temple, to understand it, and to apply it, he said.
He then emerged from the dust-cloud of difficulty with an impassioned homily about the need to 'take the whip' to injustice, having alluded to the anti-capitalist protests on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. He also spoke of the need to be rigorous with ourselves in our own discipleship. That is a biblical sentiment to be fair but not one taught by the passage, which is about Jesus, God's authoritative Messiah enforcing the divine will for the Temple, whose spiritual purpose the Word made flesh has come to fulfill through his redemptive death and resurrection.
As a village preacher and one-time trade hack, Cranmer's Curate would make no claim to be a heavy-weight biblical expositor. But he has read the Church of England's 39 Articles of the Religion. The Anglican way of interpreting the Word of God written is clearly set out in Article 20, which states that the Church must not 'so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another'.
The right approach to preaching under the authority of God's written Word, therefore, is to treat John's account of the cleansing of the Temple as historical and to teach what the apostolic witness was inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal.
Those present for the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in St John's would have been much better served by a proper explanation of the significance of Jesus' statement in 2v19 in the dispute following the cleansing, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' (RSV), which the disciples grasped after his resurrection.
One of course must not be naive here. Preaching that is not dazzled by the critical approach to Scripture will struggle to find a platform within the academy of an English university. One must also be aware that the term 'evangelical' has become much more elastic in recent years, so a theological college with an evangelical label does not guarantee the right presuppositions regarding the authority and inspiration of Holy Scripture.
Nevertheless, because good biblical preaching is so vital to the spiritual future of the Church of the nation youth group prayers are sorely needed for our foundationally evangelical theological colleges, that they would turn out faithful and capable ministers to preach the Word.
This piece - St Paul's fiasco symptomatic of Anglican confusion - appeared on Christian Today.
This about Stonewall voting Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips Bigot of the Year appeared on Archbishop Cranmer.
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