I’ve been reading Michael Allen and Scott Swain’s book Reformed Catholicity and thought this quote was spot on: We do well, nonetheless, to acknowledge the drift away from a lively setting of sola Scriptura in the redemptive economy of the Triune God and amid the life of the communion of saints. Indeed, sola Scriptura has served for some moderns as a banner for private judgment and against catholicity. In so doing, however, churches and Christians have turned from sola Scriptura to solo Scriptura, a bastard child nursed... Read more

Continuing the Michael Jensen festival, here we have Mike’s article from TGC-Australia on Is Reformed Theology Still Relevant? Here’s his answer: Is Reformed theology still relevant? Certainly, Reformed theologians may lose their relevance, and be lost in answering the questions that no-one is asking. But as far as it is Biblical theology and as far as it is a theology that majors on the grace of God in Jesus Christ as the only hope of humankind, then Reformed theology never... Read more

My friend Michael Jensen has a great post over at the Aussie Bible Society page on Perhaps Feminism is not the Enemy. He opines that he’s heard more sermons against feminism than against domestic violence! Jensen states: One woman in Christian ministry told me: “I guess I’m feminist because the things I want for my daughters are: to not have to fight for equal pay, I don’t want them to feel unsafe walking down the street, I don’t want them... Read more

According to Mark 12:13-17 (CEB): They sent some of the Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you’re genuine and you don’t worry about what people think. You don’t show favoritism but teach God’s way as it really is. Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay taxes or not?” Since Jesus recognized their deceit, he said to them, “Why are... Read more

Fouad Masri  Connecting with Muslims: A Guide to Communicating Effectively  Downers Grove: IVP, 2014. Available at Amazon.com Reviewed by Charlie Fletcher, Dean of Global Mission at Ridley College, Melbourne. When I first dipped into Connecting with Muslims before Christmas, the Australian news was dominated by images of a sea of flowers in Martin Place in Sydney after a deadly hostage siege by a Muslim man in an inner city café. When I picked up the book again in the new year, Western... Read more

Yep, you read it right. Hugh Jackman (aka “Wolverine” from the X-Men movies) is slated to play the Apostle Paul in a forthcoming movie. You can read about it in Variety and The Guardian. Jackman is a student of transcendental meditation rather than Christianity, having previously attended the international School of Practical Philosophy. But he told Parade magazine in 2009 that he was raised by his father, a devout, born-again Christian who took his young son to Billy Graham crusades whenever the famed... Read more

There are some great articles in the latest issue of Journal for the Study of the New Testament (2015). Richard Last, “The Social Relationships of Gospel Writers: New Insights from Inscriptions Commending Greek Historiographers,”JSNT 37.3 (2015): 232-52. This is a good article that is another bullet in the body of the “Gospel communities” hypothesis because it argues that Christian authors were probably part of wider scribal/literary/pedagogical networks in their own city. I think it is important to remember that Christians did not... Read more

My friend Michael Jensen has a great piece on the Aussie Bible Society website on A Meal to Remember Jesus and Why It’s so Contentious. But most of all, we need to recognise that the Lord’s Supper is an extraordinary gift from Christ to his people – and enjoy it. Symbols are never ‘mere’ symbols. A wedding is a symbol of a marriage, but it is indispensable to that marriage, because it is a visible enactment of the love and... Read more

This week saw the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans – Australia in Melbourne with an Anglican Futures Conference featuring several great speakers Rev Ashley Null, Rev Richard Condie, ++ Philip Freier, ++Eliud Wabukala, and ++Glenn Davies. I liked this quote from Null: “The very heart of Cranmer’s understanding of the mission of the church is to proclaim the gospel … to renew the hearts and minds and lives of the English people.” Some of the audio is available here. Read more

I’m currently re-reading through Tom Wright’s New Testament and the People of God especially the sections about critical realism and literature. Just to show that Wright was not out on a limb on this one, I found this great critique by José López and Garry Potter about postmodernity, “The alleged loss of hegemonic meanings in the social world were not so much explained but reproduced in texts through all type of narrative and rhetorical strategies. This led to a type of writing, and... Read more