Browsing Archive: February, 2012
Crippling debt has become a
feature of our landscape since the banking crisis of 2008. On mainland Europe
we see nation-states struggling to keep up with debt repayments while here in
the UK we see nationalised banks battling to regain profitability. Few,
however, know of the connection between monarchs, church and banks going back
to the 17th century and the roots of our banking system come into
focus as Roger Mitchell examines church and empire.
In previous posts on
Mitchell’s book Church,... Continue reading ...
‘The church needs fewer
pulpiteers and more spiritual facilitators.’ Ouch! Of all the chapters in Viola
and Barna’s Pagan Christianity it is
the one on ‘the sermon’ that makes me most uncomfortable. It isn’t because I
disagree with their conclusions, however, but because I can see how much of my
own identity has been wrapped up in my work as a preacher. And maybe there’s a
lesson for many here in that when we receive so much affirmation from our church
work any attack on that wo...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Friday, February 24, 2012,
In :
Bible
On 22 June 1633 the
scientist Galileo Galilei was found guilty of heresy by the Catholic Church. He
was put under house arrest and his offending book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems was put on the Index of books banned by the church.
Literalist approach
His crime was that he taught
that the sun rather than the earth was at the centre of the universe and that
while the sun was motionless the earth was not. This was considered heretical
because it was clearly counter to the teach... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Wednesday, February 22, 2012,
Trevor was wholly comfortable
in his own skin. His ease of being; his openness and vulnerability; his warm
and loving ways – they made him stand out even though he himself was quite
happy in the background.
The greatest testimony
possible to him has been made by one of his three sons: ‘My dad knew how to
show love’. Not everyone has had such an upbringing but Trevor was able to show
his sons his love and affection for them in a way that left them without any
awkwardness in their relation... Continue reading ...
‘No matter how loudly
Pentecostals claim that they are following New Testament patterns, the typical
Pentecostal or charismatic church follows the same order of worship as do most
other Protestant bodies.’ Another stinger of a sentence by Viola and Barna in Pagan Christianity as they look at the
roots of worship in church.
Protestant roots
The Pentecostal tradition,
they claim quite correctly, has its roots in the Protestant Reformation of the
16th century but with the added ingredient of ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Friday, February 17, 2012,
In :
Bible
Allow me to go back to the
question about the inspiration of the Bible. When Paul wrote to Timothy and
said that ‘all scripture is God-breathed’ I concluded in my post on that verse
that he was referring to the Old Testament only. But, asked one commentator,
what about the point Peter makes in his second letter (2 Peter 3:15-16)? He
seems to be saying that Paul’s letters are as inspired as ‘the other
Scriptures’.
Paul's missing letter
Was Peter referring to all
Paul’s writings or on... Continue reading ...
Recent stories in the news
here in the UK – such as banning prayers in local councils and government ministers
calling for a strengthening of ‘Christian Britain’ – show how crucial Roger
Mitchell’s analysis in Church, Gospel
& Empire really is. Already in our tour through the book we have seen
how the historian Eusebius and the Roman Emperor Constantine managed to tie
both church and empire together is such a way as key imperial principles were
subsumed by the church. The consequenc...
Continue reading ...
The High Court’s decision
last week regarding the holding of prayers in council meetings has been widely
reported and by now widely blogged about also. It was not surprising to see
some of the knee-jerk reactions by conservative church groups – former
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey included. This reaction is indicative of
the collective nervous breakdown being suffered on some wings of the church in
this post-Christendom age.
Privileges removed
Rather than react, however,
would it no... Continue reading ...
‘There does not exist a
shred of biblical support for the church building.’ So say Viola and Barna in Pagan Christianity. And of course they
are correct. We don’t see the early followers of Jesus as depicted in the Bible
erecting special buildings for the sole purpose of holding any kind of service
to God. In itself though, this may not be enough of a reason to say we
shouldn’t have them today. The key to PC’s
argument against having a church building is that it is ‘an architect...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Friday, February 10, 2012,
In :
Bible
A few years ago when I was
involved with co-leading a new church plant one of the first things I had to do
was to form a ‘statement of faith’ for the congregation. This was a novel
experience for me since as someone brought up a Baptist in Wales (I am still a
baptist, by the way) I never had to think about such a thing before because
Welsh Baptist churches never had a formal statement of beliefs. But as people
felt we needed to be well defined in our theology (and there’s nothing wrong
...
Continue reading ...
The cross of Jesus and
military superiority are inextricably linked in the story of Constantine. In
312 C.E. he faced his enemy and co-emperor Maxentius near the Milvian Bridge, which
crossed the River Tiber. Before entering into battle Constantine saw a vision
of the cross with the words ‘By this sign conquer’. Though still a pagan at the
time he took it as a sign that he should fight under the Christian God’s protection
and when he won the battle the story of his vision – however mu...
Continue reading ...
As they embarked on their
quest to find where many of our church practices have originated, Viola and
Barna speak for many when they say in Pagan
Christianity that they ‘ardently want their relationship with the Lord to
be their top priority in life. They are tired of the institutions,
denominations, and routines getting in the way of a resonant connection with
Him’. If you’re mumbling to yourself right now, ‘That’s exactly how I feel’;
then welcome on the journey. You are most de...
Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Friday, February 3, 2012,
In :
Bible
What role does the Bible
play in defining what a Christian is? Do we need to ‘believe the word of God’
before we can claim to be Christian? In certain quarters today you would think
so. The Bible as the literal word of God to us has to be accepted. Any wavering
on this and you would soon be condemned as being on dangerous ground. But this has not been the
case throughout church history. One German church historian noted the shift
that happened during the first and second centuries C.E.:
Abo... Continue reading ...
It takes a brave theologian
to open-up Nicea. It was at the council held there in 325 C.E. that the church
decided to define the divine nature of Jesus of Nazareth. This definition has
been accepted as orthodoxy in the world-wide church ever since – though many
minority groups have questioned it. In his chapter on how the historian
Eusebius of Caesarea managed to infect the church with imperial values Roger
Mitchell takes a critical look at Nicea, suggesting that the defence of God’s hier...
Continue reading ...
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