Thinking Anglicans

Opinion – 1 September 2021

Tim Guymer Unadulterated Love Living in Love and Faith course material – key failings

Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Personal Reflections on early Christian formation

Erika Cannon Earth & Altar Warning: Children in Church

Wesley Hill The Living Church Bring your Bible to Class – or Church

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Tim Chesterton
2 years ago

Excellent article from Wesley Hill. Like him, I formed the habit of taking my Bible to church with me when I was my teens, and I still do it today, even when I’m not leading the service. I especially like to see the context of each reading, and notice the bits the lectionary leaves out!

Fr Dexter Bracey
Fr Dexter Bracey
Reply to  Tim Chesterton
2 years ago

Some years ago, the parish in which I was serving stopped printing the readings in the weekly notice sheet, but gave people the references for them to look up. That decision was taken for a number of reasons, one of which was to encourage people to become more familiar with reading their Bibles. I was taken aback by the number of regular church goers who had no idea how to find a particular passage from the reference.

Rod Gillis
Rod Gillis
2 years ago

Tim Guymer’s comments (reported above) on the LLF course has touchstones with a controversy over comments by two U.S. Catholic bishops as reported by NCR, Recent Transphobic Statements from Bishops Make Truth Claims without Facts (link). Teasers from the articles. Guymer writes, “Only voices institutionally bound to the current position of the Church, or to minor, already tolerated variations on that position, were given the opportunity to speak with authority.” Daniel P. Horan writes, ” The real problem is not the actual existence of transgender persons — or anybody who does not conform to the binary, complementarian worldview these prelates… Read more »

Peter Hopkins
Peter Hopkins
2 years ago

Smyth was a wicked man. His behaviour was an outrage. His victims deserve every possible sympathy. However, Graystone is surely past the point of reason.

He “outs” Alisdair Paine as a victim without permission and goes on via twitter to call for Paine to withdraw from his (Paine’s) ministry.

So the victims are to be cast into the furnace too. This is madness.

Which of us will be left who can declare themselves righteous

Last edited 2 years ago by Peter Hopkins
Rod Gillis
Rod Gillis
2 years ago

My two cents worth on the practical aspect of Wesley Hill’s suggestion below, but first just to note that his suggestion is made in the service of promoting a particular theory about how the New Testament may be read. One of the more recent people I’ve read on this issue is John Barton, A History of the Bible: A Book and Its Faiths. Excellent book. (link below). Have you read it? I recommend it to as many people as possible. I believe this is the same John Barton who with John Halliburton co-authored an essay in, Believing in the Church… Read more »

Susannah Clark
Susannah Clark
Reply to  Rod Gillis
2 years ago

I second the recommendation of John Barton’s book. I’m not trained theologically, but I found it really enlightening, helpful and accessible.

Rod Gillis
Rod Gillis
Reply to  Rod Gillis
2 years ago

oops! I actually intended to post my comment on Hill as a reply to Tim Chesteron, not that it makes much difference in terms of the comment.

Tim Chesterton
Reply to  Rod Gillis
2 years ago

Rod: to each their own. I said, “I like it”, not “I think it’s better.” An evangelical like me who tends to preach expository sermons will have a different take on this from those who preach liturgical homilies. I do think we need to help our parishioners improve their biblical literacy. There’s no one size fits all solution, but I agree with Father Dexter’s point above. Note: we have pew Bibles at St. Margaret’s. The readers announce the page numbers. Many follow in the pew Bibles; perhaps the majority don’t, but the option is there. As for excerpted passages, people… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by Tim Chesterton
Rod Gillis
Rod Gillis
Reply to  Tim Chesterton
2 years ago

Good comments for sure, especially the last paragraph. Also, “I do think we need to help our parishioners improve their biblical literacy.” Can’t disagree with that.

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