George Washington And Christianity

Mary Thompson, a research historian at Mount Vernon:

Go away!

https://www.smh.com.au/national/please-leave-us-archbishop-tells-same-sex-marriage-supporters-to-abandon-anglican-church-20191015-p530tk.html

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

I. I'm going to make a few observations about John Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. It reflects a classic contrast between Puritanism and Anglicanism. Both Puritanism and Anglicanism have virtues and vices. On the one hand, I think Bunyan's autobiography is somewhat overwrought. Moreover, he makes salvation seem like a trial by ordeal–where the goal is constantly threatened. That makes for gripping drama when he allegorized his autobiography (The Pilgrim's Progress), but it stands in tension with sola gratia. If salvation is truly by grace alone, then the outcome shouldn't be constantly in suspense, where you dare not relax. 

On the other hand, there's an urgency to his outlook that's unthinkable in Anglicanism. It's inconceivable that an Anglican could write The Pilgrim's Progress. That's because Anglicanism, with its pacific ritualism, is prone to index salvation to baptism, the eucharist, liturgical prayer, and public acts of worship. So long as you use the right mechanism, you're probably safe. Salvation by ritual.  

II. Critics sometimes note the contrast between Bunyan's trifling vices and his terrified guilt. It seems disproportionate. In the same vein, I'm reminded of Ruskin's statement (in Praeterita) that:

Though I felt myself somehow called to imitate Christian in the Pilgrim's Progress, I couldn't see that either Billiter Street and the Tower Wharf, where my father had his cellars, or the cherry-blossomed garden at Herne Hill [his boyhood home] where my mother potted her flowers, could be places I was bound to fly from as in the City of Destruction. Without much reasoning on the matter, I had virtually concluded from my general Bible reading that, never having meant or done any harm that I knew of, I could not be in danger of hell: while I saw also that even the crème de la crème of religious people seemed to be in no hurry to go to heaven. On the whole, it seemed to me, all that was required of me was to say my prayers, go to church, learn my lessons, obey my parents, and enjoy my dinner. 

That's an obstacle to evangelizing adults as well. While the sentiment is understandable and even acceptable in a child, what it fails to grasp or appreciate is that in Christian theology, we are born lost, absent divine intervention. It's not as if the default condition is that we're moving in a heavenward direction, and must commit some heinous sin to lose our way. Rather, we are lost at the outset, and must find our way out of the forest before we're overtaken by the snowy night. Bunyan was fundamentally right about that. 

Ghost-layers

Exorcists are associated with expelling demons from the possessed. A related, but neglected category, is ghost-layers. Unlike an exorcist, a ghost-layer is associated expelling ghosts or poltergeists from a haunted house. Traditionally, exorcists are associated with Roman Catholic priests while ghost-layers are associated with Anglican country parsons. My immediate point is not to comment on the merits of ghost-laying, but draw attention to a neglected designation and curiosity of church history. 

Anglican exorcism

https://drfrancisyoung.com/2018/06/29/publication-of-a-history-of-anglican-exorcism/

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/721178

http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jporter/spiritualism/Stafford%20demonic%20possession.pdf

Debating the sacraments

On the question of the sacraments, Baptists are at a tactical disadvantage. There will always be people who are drawn to sacramental realism because they like the idea that infant baptism creates the presumption that their child is now heavenbound. Or that weekly communion is a quick fix. Spiritual shortcuts have a psychological appeal for many people. We see that in Baptists circles, too, where the "sacrament" of the altar call is functionally equivalent to Catholic sacraments. The primary exception is Reformed Baptists, who are more consistent. This is one reason why debates over credo/paedobaptism make so little headway. It's not just an exegetical question but a psychological question. In that respect, the Baptist position is an uphill climb. Sacramental realism has perennial appeal for many people.

Notice that what I've said is irrelevant to truth and evidence. I'm just making a sociological observation. Theological debates often stall because the underlying motivations are psychological. And there's not much that can be done about that. 

It's like ecumenists who have a deep yearning for "unity". They seem to be temperamentally wired to long for "unity", or a sense of continuity with the past. That's why some of them convert to Catholicism–drawn by the mystique of Christian unity and continuity (even though Catholic reality is something else entirely). 

I'm not saying this is a reason to forego debates over the sacraments. But we should have low expectations about achieving progress in that direction. It's more a case of peeling away occasional individuals. 

Is Christianity dying in England?

Just to be clear what we’re seeing here:
- British atheism —> declining (-2-3% p.a. for 3 yrs)
- British church attendance —> growing
- British people who pray —> growing. pic.twitter.com/p9Zvyzvjlh

— Pete Greig (@PeteGreig) December 28, 2018

Reclaiming the Reformation

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/06/latimer-and-ridley-are-forgotten

How to cure Pakistan of its Islamist cancer

http://www.virtueonline.org/how-cure-pakistan-its-islamist-cancer-michael-nazir-ali

Anglicanism: It’s not what you think it is

The Gospel Coalition has a very good overview article. Here are some things you may not know about Anglicanism:

1. Since the arrival of Christianity in Britain in the 3rd century, British Christianity has had a distinct flavor and independence of spirit, and was frequently in tension with Roman Catholicism.

2. The break with Rome in the 16th century had political causes, but also saw the emergence of an evangelical theology.

3. Anglicanism is Reformed.

4. Scripture is the supreme authority in Anglicanism.

5. Justification by faith alone is at the heart of Anglican soteriology.

6. In Anglican thought, the sacraments are "effectual signs" received by faith.

7. The Anglican liturgy—best encapsulated in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer—is designed to soak the congregation in the Scriptures, and to remind them of the priority of grace in the Christian life.

8. Anglicanism is a missionary faith, and has sponsored global missions since the 18th century.

9. Global Anglicanism is more African and Asian than it is English and American.

Read the entire article here for more details.

A Philosophical Walking Tour with C.S. Lewis: Why it Did Not Include Rome

http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/a-philosophical-walking-tour-with-cs-lewis-9781628923162/

Lent

I've noticed some critics of Ash Wednesday and Lent. I'll make a few quick points:

i) They seem to equate Ash Wednesday and Lent with Roman Catholicism. However, this holiday and season are observed by Lutheran and Anglican Protestants as well. Obviously, the liturgy and specific theology varies with the denomination. 

ii) It's important to distinguish between what's permissible and what's obligatory. There's no religious duty to follow the church calendar. However, it's permissible, and it can be edifying. It's an annual cycle that charts the main events in the life of Christ–along with Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. That's a salutary reminder to ourselves, as well as a witness to the world. 

Christians who oppose Ash Wednesday or Lent should also oppose Christmas and Easter. And, indeed, some Christians are consistent in opposing every holiday on the church calendar. But others seem to be selectively critical. 

Sweet dropper

"Sweet Dropper: Richard Sibbes and Conforming Puritanism" by Evan May.

Ut Unum Sint

http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/111-02_102.pdf

Epiphany – Five Reflections from a Life Time

http://paulbarnett.info/2013/01/epiphany-five-reflections-from-a-life-time/

“Anglicanorum Coetibus”: merely a rounding error

To Roman Catholics, it’s “Christian unity in the news” But to conservative Anglicans, it’s a “tempest in a teapot”:

http://anglicancontinuum.blogspot.com/2012/04/current-state-of-ordinariates-in-north.html

When the Bishop of Rome issued Anglicanorum Coetibus it was said that 400,000 continuing Anglicans plus many more from the Church of England and the Anglican Communion would be rushing for the bridges of the Tiber. On Sunday, the Roman authorities held “ceremonies across the country” to receive Anglicans in Canada wanting to join the new Anglican Ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Only around 100 confused Anglicans in all of Canada accepted the Roman bishop’s “generous offer.” Still, Rome is hoping for “dozens” more in upcoming weeks!

Only about 1,400 Anglicans out of 27 million have joined the new Ordinariate in Great Britain,  and about 1,000 more are said to be on the Roman road in the United States - and that number may be wishful thinking as well. Despite the hype, the wishful thinking on the part of Rome, and the “generous offer” of the Roman bishop, Anglicans are not going to leave their Church to submit to an unreformed papacy. It is just not going to happen. Yes, we have got problems; but I would not trade our problems for their deeply rooted doctrinal errors, nominal Christianity, and moral scandals.

George Will might call the small blip this effort has made “a rounding error”.