All Things Seen & Unseen

The Great Divide in Australia is a term for a range of mountains separating the Eastern Australian coastline from the outback. This range is the third largest in the world. The Great Dividing Range is a fitting metaphor for The Great Divide (the sacred-secular divide) in Christian consciousness and action exposed in a 30-page booklet written by Mark Greene of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (licc) ( http://www.licc.org.uk/ ). The Sacred-Secular Divide (the SSD) Greene seems to assume we all know what the SSD is. I'm not so sure.  In any case to put it briefly, it is the deep division, between things regarded as sacred : morals, prayer, church attendance, Lord's Day, bible studies, serving in the church, church worship, evangelising 1 ; as opposed to secular (profan e) things such a work, school, univ ersity, recr eation, holidays, clubs, TV, novels, politics, or dinary family matters, gardening , and workaday week . Of course, a legitima...

Introduction Last time we examined Free Grace Theology (FGT) and how, according to this theology, we receive salvation . FGT maintains that we receive it on the basis of belief-in-Christ alone. Significantly, FGT distinguishes be tween the 'call to believe' and the 'call to follow' (see Free Grace Theology ) arguing that for salvation it is only necessary to believe on the Lord Jesus (e.g., Acts 16.31), that is, to answer the 'call to believe'. Lordship Salvation In opposition to FGT is Lordship Salvation (LS) 1 which believes that the 'call to follow' Jesus Christ is part and parcel of the 'call to believe' (Matt 28.19-20; Rom 1.5, 16.26; etc). LS is convinced that discipleship is an inherent part of true belief in Christ as Lo rd . Hence, o ne of the major teachings of LS is that being saved-by-grace-through-faith is always followed by works (Eph 2.8-10; Jas 2.17-20). The two (belief, a nd good works) will inevitably go together b...

It may be thought that debates about what constitutes 'salvation' are just arguments for theologians in academia. However, as someone has rightly said, 'ideas have legs'. That is, ideas don't just swan around in some academic ether but become embodied in preachers' hearts and minds, and in words and actions. Hence, members of congregations become affected. Dispensationalism And Salvation Dispensation alism has been defined in p osts on my One People Of God blog 1 as a view taken of many Bible issues on a radical theological distinction between Israel and the Church. In short, two people of God exist: one earthly, Israel; and one heavenly, the Church.

An understanding of the People of God as a priesthood of all believers derives from the New Testament.  In 1 Peter 2.9-10 it says that C 1 hurch is a 'chosen race' (ASV), 'a holy nation, a royal priesthood and a peculiar [a people who are his possession and therefore, a special] people'. 2   In short, the Body 1 of Christ is a 'priesthood of believers' (see also Rev 1.6, 5.10, 20.6).

Cloudstreet is an elaborate epic poem with the grand interwoven themes: death, life and the life hereafter;  love, tragedy, evil, grace, God, luck, time and times, the extraordinary, chance, water and sky. This Australian book's action takes place between 1943, towards the end of WW2 up to the mid-1960s. The central issue of cloudstreet [spelled in lowercase] is a literary examination of the formation and continuance of family and identity. Without the 'we' of one's family, the 'I' cannot exist authentically. Cloudstreet is a double-storey house in poor repair at No. 1, Cloud Street in a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It becomes home to two working-class families in needing repair: the house owners, the Pickles (Sam and Dolly: Rose, Ted and Chub) believe in luck and get mainly the bad; and the tenants, the Lambs (Lester and Oriel: the girls, Hattie, Elaine, Red and the boys, Quick, Fish, and Lon) who once believed in God but have lost faith in him, and no...

We've been watching a DVD series, South Riding 1 , and it's got the usual Christian character who is held up for ridicule. He is judged harshly because he is a hypocrite. The character is a married, Methodist lay preacher -always fertile soil for Christophobia- who is committing adultery with a seductive, decepti ve Delilah. He is conscience stricken about what he is doing but she can always bend him to her wishes.

The Hornet Song When the Canaanites hardened their hearts against God, And grieved Him because of their sin, God sent along hornets to bring them to terms, And to help His own people to win. Now the hornets persuaded them that it was best To go quickly and not to go slow, They didn't compel them to go 'gainst their will. But they just made them willing to go. If a nest of live hornets were brought to this room, And the creatures allowed to go free, You would not need urging to make yourself scarce, You ' d want to get out, don't you see!

Viktor Frankl 1 (1905-1997) was an amazing man although I doubt he would describe himself thus. He survived imprisonment in a concentration camp at Auschwitz under the Nazi regime during WW2. He was a doctor, a neurologist who became a famous psychiatrist. He survived because he found a personal meaning to survive. He founded the so-called 'Third 2 School of Viennese Psychiatry'. The book's title, Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy sums up much of Frankl's psycho-therapeutic approach.  He studied with Sigmund Freud and with Alfred Adler but concluded that each fundamentally reduced the stature of man. For Freud focussed on man's 'will to pleasure' as the chief spring for many human acts, and Adler on man's 'will to power'. Frankl didn't deny the importance of these aspects of humanity but he denied their centrality. But Frankl believed that what was more basic to humanity was the 'will to meaning [logos]'...

We should remind ourselves that our title text comes from the 'letter-essay' written by the apostle Paul to the Roman church around AD 55-57 from Corinth.  This consideration needs to be emphasised; we too quickly imagine that Paul was writing to us when it is more accurate to say that Paul was writing to his contemporaries in the first century AD in the capital city of the Roman Empire. He was not writing to 1 21st century disciples.

Gal 3.16 In the above verse, the apostle Paul says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He [God] saith not, And to 'seeds', as of many; but as of one, 'And to thy seed', which is Christ. The verse is crucial because it clearly shows that Jesus Christ is the Seed of Abraham. Paul points out that the promises were made to Abraham and to a single offspring or descendant or 'seed' (the Christ). Importantly for those who believe in Christ, they are said to be 'the children of Abraham' (Gal 3.7, 9, 26, 27, 29): through their faith in Christ, they are the 'seed' or descendants of Abraham. And Abraham, as we know, was not considered righteous ('rightwised') because of anything he did; he was 'rightwised' (=made right) because he believed God's promises 1 (Rom 4.22; Gen 15.6).  Romans also says that God is God of both Jew and Gentile on the basis of faith (Rom 3.29-30). That is, not on the basis of religion, culture...

I've just come across an excerpt from a wonderful book I have, The Divine Forbearance or The Dynamics of Forgiveness (2001) by Paul T. Harrison 1 . I want to focus on some points he makes from Rom 5.1-11 concerning the love of God. In Romans ch 4, the subject is faith: 'the means by which we are rightwised 2 to God' (Harrison, p. 52). But what, Harrison asks, arouses faith; what 'has Christ revealed about God that makes us able to trust Him?' Fire of God Ministries International Church-see http://fireofgodservants.blogspot.com.au And to that question he answers, God's forgiving love . God's love is so faithful and true that we may depend on it absolutely. Why is that so? That is explored in Rom 5.6-11. Our status before God as ungodly sinners (Rom 5.6, 8) in the past meant that we were the 'enemies of God' (Rom 5.10). Think of that! Being an enemy of God means to be subject to his wrath (Rom 5.9) and displeasure. People don't give their live...

Christians tend not to reflect on the significance of the New Testament scriptures that deal directly with the issue of the 'land of promise'. Moreover, we tend not to think about the nature of the NT's way of dealing with such 'land' issues. John 4 One reference I find highly instructive comes from John's gospel account where, in a well-known example, Jesus a Jew talks with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Jesus progressively reveals himself to her until he describes himself as the Giver of 'life-giving' water (Jn 4.14). But he later provokes her even more when he undercuts both Jewish and Samaritan worship ideas (Jn 4.21-24).  'Neither in this mountain [Gerazim] nor in Jerusalem' is worship to be conducted (Jn 4.21) in the future. Jesus knows that with his death something fundamental is going to change re the temple sacrifices; he also knows that the Romans are going to destroy Jerusalem in AD68-70 (Matt 23.37-39) and finally again in AD...

As an evangelical Christian I join with many others and am part of a tradition that takes the Bible seriously. In saying that, I am not dismissing authorities such as human tradition and reason; but these are subordinate authorities. I believe the scriptures to be the word of God written given to show us the way of salvation (2 Tim 3.15). The scriptural Word points to Jesus the Word (Jn 1.1;1.14) who points us to God the Father.

Catching Our Breath Discussion of t he various f orms of eschatology reveals complicati ons ; but it can also reveal major points of difference that can help us to make greater sense of the field of study about our major topic, The One People of God .  However, like many areas of scholarsh ip when beginning to try to understand them it is as if one is learning a new language. In some ways that is what is happening. One is lear ning a new language! Furthermore, we can feel as if others have been having an intense conversation in that language for many years.  That metaphor in effect does sum up why we can feel lost in the middle of a for est. Moreover, b ecause we have been absent much of that time we don't really understand why other people fuss over the various issues I have referred to briefly in earlier posts. Some people just e njo y learning about such issues for their own sake. (People enjoy all sorts of knowledge with which I don't interest myself. For example, I ca...

The story of Henry VIII's obsession to secure a male heir so that the possibility of another Civil War (as had happened between the Lancasters and the Yorks in the brutal 'War of the Roses') could be avoided is well-known. Catherine of Aragon of Spain, had formerly been married to his older brother Arthur who died six months after their marriage.   Although Henry VII was not keen for his youngest son to marry Catherine, she did have a large dowry and when King Henry VII died, his son Henry VIII married Catherine.  But her child-bearing years with Henry were accompanied by frustration with the only success being her giving birth to a female heir (Mary, later Mary I). Therefore, Henry determined to gain an annulment from his marriage to Catherine from the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) but was refused for political reasons. So, Henry decided to break with Rome by getting his own clergy to annul the marriage and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was happy to oblige his king. 1   Thomas ...

Many readers will have viewed this charming and engaging BBC TV series but the TV series is based on a book by Jennifer Worth. (It can be purchased for under AUD$12 and can be highly recommended.)  It's superbly written by a talented author with a wonderful gift for the language who has obviously lived through a tumultuous time all but forgotten: deep joy, ecstasy, huge sorrow and pain, wonderful camaraderie, amid the great dedication of nurses and mid-wife Anglican nuns to their respective callings in the squalor and material deprivation of the East End of London following WW2. Jenny at 22 (the author) comes to work as a midwife with a group of sometimes feisty nuns of the Midwives of St Raymond Nonnatus (patron saint of childbirth, midwives, children, pregnant women) and other non-professed, young midwives at a residence called 'Nonnatus' near the London docklands. She is fleeing a love affair that ended badly but soon finds herself baptised into a life of relentless wor...

J. N. Darby's Life It seems odd that evangelicalism has been so deeply influenced by John Nelson Darby's views and yet his name is hardly known.  Consonant with that observation,  Sweetman and Gribben (2009) remark that few biographies of worth have been written about the Irishman even though he was an original thinker and later had great influence in several branches of theology. Darby seemed  destined for the law profession i nitially and although he qualified and practised f or a year, he moved into the clerical mini stry of the Church of Ire land (CofI) in Dublin (Anglican). This posit ion seemed well below his past scholarly achievements at Trinity College, Dublin University where he graduated in 1819 hav ing earned a Gold Medal in Classics . He lived an austere life along with his parish ioners and followed a 'catholic' view of churchmanship that divine grace was given primarily through the sacraments (hence, a 'High' Churchman) . His Conv...