Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
There were two things I was hoping to escape when I joined a Pentecostal church: social-climbing Christianity and social justice Christianity. Silly me: I've achieved neither of these. I deal with the former on an irregular basis. I think my church people and pastor are aware of my rants on the subject but up to …
Continue reading "Why I've Never Been Sold on "Christian Social Activism""
This exchange of correspondence about someone who wanted to transfer their membership to one of the "seceding" dioceses' parishes would be hilarious if it wasn't so tragic. Basically, the parish of the Diocese of Dallas (whose Dean's parting shot was commented on here) refused to start a "canonical" transfer of membership to one of the …
Continue reading "The Episcopal Church: Getting Out While the Getting Out Was Good"
From Gerald Bray at the Churchman, the best wrap on the man and his role I have seen yet: The shipwreck of the Covenant brings us to the heart of Dr. Williams' long-term failure as archbishop. He sincerely wanted to keep the Anglican Communion together but believed that he could do this by political compromises …
Continue reading "A Tough (but Realistic) Assessment of a "Double-Minded Man", Rowan Williams"
I found retiring Dallas Episcopal Dean Kevin Martin's reflections on his long life in ministry fascinating, largely because his career span--to say nothing of his span as an Episcopalian--sweeps most of the enormous transformation that has taken place both in TEC (which was PECUSA when he started) and in the country at large. The question …
Continue reading "Two Score of Episcopal Ministry: My Response to a Dean's Reflections"
Things aren't going to plan in the vanguard against liberalism: It gets worse. In 2010, the NAE adopted a resolution seeking "common ground" and "fresh national dialogue" on the subject of reducing the number of abortions in the United States. Cizik's successor, Galen Carey, said at the time that partnering with notorious pro-abortion groups like …
A hard conclusion to avoid: In a move that took most people by surprise, the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Rwanda, the Most Rev. Onesphorus Rwaje publicly handed over a number of US bishops and clergy who had been canonically resident in Rwanda to the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, Archbishop of the Anglican Church …
Continue reading "Turning it Over to the ACNA: The Rwandans Have Had All the Fun They Can Stand"
That's StandFirm's Matt Kennedy for you, reacting to Ridgecrest's dry policy for the upcoming ACNA Provincial Synod: No scotch, no sherry, no cigars? It’s bad enough for the laity and the presbyterate…but the bishops. How shall the bishops endure this deprivation? This may be the first North American Anglican gathering in which the bishops are …
From (where else?) The Lead: The most popular immortality narrative is Soul. Most Christians now believe that their souls, which persist after death, will be reunited with their resurrected bodies. Souls thus solve a lot of the identity problems associated with the earlier Resurrection narrative. Cave argues that Soul narrative resolves the Mortality Paradox by …
I recently came across a fascinating book entitled The Handbook of Palestine by H.C. Luke and E. Keith-Roach. Produced in 1922 by the British Mandate government which had just taken control of the country after a long Ottoman Turkish rule, it’s a fascinating snapshot of the Holy Land beginning its transition to the State of …
At the beginning of David Virtue's acid commentary on the run-up to General Convention 2012, he quotes the Presiding Bishop as follows: We need to discover ways to engage in the outside community. The Episcopal Church must embrace change and diversity if it is to move forward. We, er...you had the greatest chance to strike …
Positive Infinity 