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The strategy of God
Doing good: The shape of the Christian life (Part 1): Why we don’t
The broken marriage of preaching and pastoring
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Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Ian Carmichael on Sola Gratia - Tahlia's story (20/08/2008).
Cathy McKay on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Gordon Cheng on An interview with Mark Thompson (20/08/2008).
Martin Kemp on The indivisibility of truth (20/08/2008).
Andrew Barry on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Alex Phillips on A freebie for you: Jonah in the ESV (19/08/2008).
Nicole Starling on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Recent posts
An interview with Mark Thompson by Sandy Grant (1 comment). Today we interview Mark Thompson... Mark, how did you come to Christ? I first heard the gospel … more
Sola Gratia - Tahlia’s story by Lionel Windsor (4 comments). Tahlia was born addicted to heroin, thanks to her mum Shae’s addiction. Tahlia (not her real name) lives with … more
“We are poorly dressed” - Part 2 by Nicole Starling (9 comments). Thanks to everyone who contributed comments in answer to the question that I raised in my previous … more
The indivisibility of truth by Tony Payne (4 comments). This Saturday’s classic Briefing extract is about the indivisibility of truth. It’s from Briefing #8, August 1, 1988: If … more
Dread, joy and Morning Prayer by Tony Payne (5 comments). Standing on the 5th tee at St Michael’s, in Sydney’s East, the golfer experiences a mixture of nervousness and dread. Here … more
A freebie for you: Jonah in the ESV by Gordon Cheng (10 comments). Here at Matthias Media, we read and recommend the English Standard Version Bible, the ESV, as a superior … more
‘We are poorly dressed…’ - Part 1 by Nicole Starling (15 comments). “We are poorly dressed… Be imitators of me.” (1 Cor 4:11, 16) “All her household are clothed in … more
Where’s your ministry ‘AT’? by Ben Pfahlert (11 comments). Christians and soldiers have a lot in common, or at least they should (2 Tim 2:3-4). Firstly they both know that … more
Countering Nowism by Lionel Windsor (2 comments). It’s been interesting to follow the comments on Tony’s post about the … more
The evangelical inferiority complex by Tony Payne (3 comments). It’s Saturday. Must be time for another classic snippet from the early days of The Briefing, this time about evangelicalism’s … more
Tony Payne
Tony is the Publishing Director at Matthias Media; editor of The Briefing; author of Islam in our Backyard, Fatherhood and numerous other Matthias Media resources; husband to Ali; father of five teenagers; and an avid consumer of books and almost any televised sport.
Sola Panellists
- Tony Payne (convenor)
- Peter Bolt
- Gordon Cheng
- Sandy Grant
- Gavin Perkins
- Ben Pfahlert
- Archie Poulos
- Nicole Starling
- Mark Thompson
- Jean Williams
- Lionel Windsor
Given that Archbishop Herft was previously in the Newcastle Diocese, and replaced the former Primate, Archbishop Carnley, one can only wonder at where the centrality of the crucified and risen Christ fits.
My 5 year old son loves to scream Colin Buchanan’s latest “Super Saviour” song: “Look, look, here comes Jesus, Up, Up and out of the grave”. Thanks Col!
Good for you Sandy. Heretics need to be both challenged and exposed. Contra the Dean, what is sown is a body (and we know what a “body” means - nothing less than flesh and blood!) and what is raised is still a body, but a body transformed, says Paul from one that is natural to one that is spiritual, ie one adapted for the life of the New Earth where God comes down from heaven to dwell among his people (Rev 21:3)
I did a quick check of the Reformed Standards (Belgic and Westminster C’s of F, Shorter and Longer Catechisms, Heidelberg Catechism), and in the sections on the states of Christ, they are simply silent on the nature of Christ’s resurrection - ie any proposition that the bones of Jesus’ could have been left in Palestine would never have occurred to them and if expressed to them would have caused eruptions to say the least.
Where resurrection of Jesus is dealt with is in the sections touching on last things: the fact of Christ’s physical resurrection is cited as the model for our own resurrection. Nothing can be clearer than the Heidelberg Catechism (LD 22, Q&A;57;) which can be found here: http://www.crchurches.net/resources/creeds/HeidelbergCatechism/ld22.html
You’re lucky. At least you’re getting somewhere with your complaint. The Dean of Women’s Ministry in London, Rosemary Lain-Priestly, sat remarkably light to the notion of Jesus’ Resurrection in this interview with Roger Bolton on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Programme.
Roger Bolton: [...] Do you believe it doesn’t matter whether it was about a body or not, or do you believe it definitely wasn’t?
Rosemary Lain-Priestly: The Scriptures tell us that the tomb was empty and it may well have been. Who am I to limit what God might choose to do? But my faith in the resurrection doesn’t stand or fall on whether there were human remains in Christ’s tomb. [...] So perhaps it doesn’t matter whether or not Jesus took his [physical body] with him.
RB: [...] Would it matter to you, would it shake your faith if a tomb was opened up and the bones in it were confirmed as those of Jesus? Your answer to that is it wouldn’t matter at all ...?
R L-P: I don’t think it would matter because the resurrection that I believe in, I think has continuity with what we experience in this life but in some very profound sense is about transformation, its about something other than what we have already experienced.
I wrote to one of the London bishops, whom I happen to know personally, to raise this issue. His reply was, “Yes, I heard her on the Sunday Programme. She’s a quite articulate and intelligent liberal. But she doesn’t speak for anyone apart from herself. And the guff about the resurrection was well countered by David Hilborn [the other person interviewed].”
And that was it! ‘Job done,’ I suppose. Now if she’d planted a church in someone else’s parish, that would have been a different matter, I’m sure.
Friends,
not sure if anyone is still following this thread. I’ve had an llluminating email exchange with Archbishop Roger over the past few months,which is now available to read here or here.
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