Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Most of you who have followed this blog know that I was able to do two series at my local church (the North Cleveland Church of God) on liturgical worship and the liturgical calendar. That’s not something that is typical in a Pentecostal church, but it isn’t unique either; I’ve been aware of things going …
As sort of an aside to The Elephant in the Room on Baptismal Regeneration, this, from Farrell's Parish Catechism: Is abortion always a mortal sin? Abortion--willfully causing the death of an unborn baby--is always murder, even when suggested or demanded by a surgeon for any reason whatsoever. Abortion is the murder of the innocent unborn infant. …
Continue reading "The Pre-Vatican II Catholic Church’s Stand on Abortion"
https://northamanglican.com/the-meaning-of-regeneration-commentary-on-browne-article-xxvii-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-meaning-of-regeneration-commentary-on-browne-article-xxvii-1 I've been thinking about posting on this topic, but, in their inimitable way, North American Anglican has posted this. Like many things in Christianity (vernacular liturgy being an important example,) Anglicanism has wrestled with many things it inherited from Roman Catholicism long before the Catholics did, and this is one of them. The core …
Continue reading "The Elephant in the Room on Baptismal Regeneration"
https://northamanglican.com/reformed-vs-re-formed-a-synopsis/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=reformed-vs-re-formed-a-synopsis I did my best to follow this back and forth, but it wasn't easy. For me, however, the key point finally came here: The crux of this dispute is the nature and substance of the English Reformation. The basic facts of what occurred during the English Reformation are generally agreed upon, but its larger …
Continue reading "Reformed vs. Re-formed: A Synopsis–North American Anglican"
Thanks to recent events, the whole business of the Church of God Declaration of Faith has become more important. Those of us who teach at Church of God institutions such as Lee University—even when that teaching isn’t theological in nature—are required to avoid teaching that which is contrary to the Declaration of Faith. Our ministers …
Continue reading "Book Review: We Believe: An Exposition of the Church of God Declaration of Faith"
It's not getting better, even with the departure of the current Occupant at Canterbury: The long knives are out. John Smyth's sadistic behavior which has claimed the Archbishop of Canterbury, could claim as much as 30 percent of the Church of England's evangelicals, a confidential source told VOL. There has been a conspiracy of silence …
Continue reading "Smyth’s Spankings Come Back to Haunt British Evangelicals"
https://northamanglican.com/ministerial-character-intention-and-the-sacraments-commentary-on-browne-article-xxvi/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ministerial-character-intention-and-the-sacraments-commentary-on-browne-article-xxvi This has been a lot hotter issue in the past than it is now, but it's an important one. Bossuet discussed it in his History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches; my comment on the subject is as follows: Especially interesting are the Vaudois, who were in reality an unauthorised, non-celibate religious community …
Continue reading "Ministerial Character, Intention, and the Sacraments–North American Anglican"
You can read his resignation letter above. In my own church we have a successful minister who, at a previous church to the one he's in now, had a campaign for his church entitled "Trading Your Title for a Towel." When he resigned his church for another appointment, I noted that the only thing he …
https://northamanglican.com/the-meaning-of-reformed-catholic-a-response-to-gerald-mcdermott/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-meaning-of-reformed-catholic-a-response-to-gerald-mcdermott I find the debate over Anglicanism's position between Protestant and Catholic somewhere between unenlightening and tiresome, because it doesn't really get us to what Anglicanism is supposed to be. Subsequent events have shed some light on the subject but it's ignored by many who should know better. As someone who has been both in …
One of the oldest posts on this blog--one that has survived platform changes over the years--is When Church Becomes Pointless. Written in 1997, it was primarily directed at the Episcopal Church, where I was raised, but as evident then and now it can happen to any church. That time was an interesting one in Episcopal …
Continue reading "A Reminder of What Happens “When Church Becomes Pointless”"
