Category Archives: Church

Introverts in the Church

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This book, by Adam McHugh, has recently been reviewed by Michael Pahl.  According to Michael, the book gives voice to thoughts and feelings that many of us have had throughout our lives (for up to 50% of the population would come out as ‘INTs’ on the Myers-Briggs personality assessment).

‘Introversion’ is not a name for a syndrome, a set of preferences, or a character defect.  It is, rather, a name for a tendency of personality.  It is not about not wanting relationships, or being interested in people, or about not being able to speak up in public (many gifted teachers and public speakers are introverts).…

Luke 22:7-20 – The Last Supper – sermon notes

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I wonder how many meals you have eaten in your life? Assuming a rate of 3 meals a day, then by the age of 16 you will already have eaten over 17,000 meals, and by the age of 60 over 65,000.

I wonder how many of these meals you can remember? Some are more memorable than others – a wedding reception, a birthday party, a family picnic, your first communion.

We come this morning to the last in a short series from Luke’s Gospel exploring notable meals that Jesus attended.…

Justification and the Lord’s Supper

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John Stott comments on the teaching of the English Reformers, and their determination that their doctrines of justification and of the Lord’s Supper should be compatible with one another:-

They strenuously denied transubstantiation (‘the change is not the nature, but the dignity’ – Latimer), the real presence of Christ in the elements (‘his true body is truly present to them that truly receive him, but spiritually’ – Cranmer), and the notion that the mass could be a propitiatory sacrifice (for then ‘doth this sacrament take upon it the office of Christ’s passion, whereby it might follow that Christ died in vain’ – Ridley). 

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The Significance of the Last Supper

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According to I.H. Marshall, the Last Supper was a Passover meal, probably held one day before the official date.  But what significance did Jesus intend by it?

1.  The Passover Meal

There is every evidence from the Gospels that Jesus regarded this Passover meal as particularly important, and that he made careful arrangements to celebrate it undisturbed.

The Passover was a celebration of how God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and set them on their way to the Promised Land. …

The ‘Real Presence’

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‘Throughout history,’ writes Donald MacLeod, ‘discussion of the Lord’s Supper has been complicated, if not indeed be-devilled, by the question of the presence of Christ in the sacrament.’

When people speak of ‘the real presence’ they are not using the word ‘real’ merely to mean ‘genuine’, but rather to mean ‘the thing itself’.  ‘The real presence’ then refers to the idea that the body of Jesus is literally present in the bread and wine at Holy Communion.…

The significance of the Lord’s Supper

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Towards the end of his comprehensive survey of the biblical teaching, I.H. Marshall draws the following conclusions about the the significance of the Lord’s Supper:-

1.  The Old Testament Background

The language and concepts of the Lord’s Supper are to be understood in terms of the Old Testament – especially Exodus 24, Isa 53 and Jeremiah 31.  There is a relationship between the acts of God as recorded in the Old Testament and those that are recorded in the New Testament, and this relationship is essentially one of promise and fulfilment.…

Brian MacLaren: a new kind of liberalism?

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Brian MacLaren’s previous books (A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and others) have probed away at prevailing evangelical beliefs and practices.  These writings have been long on questions, but short on answers.  Now, in A New Kind of Christianity,  he has told us more directly, more systematically, where his thinking has taken him.

Of the various reviews on the web, one of the most penetrating is that of Scott McKnight, in Christianity Today. …

What church-goers think of the Bible

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In 2008, research conducted on behalf of the Bible Society asked church leaders and ordinary church-goers (i.e. non-leaders) from across England and Wales about their atittudes towards the Bible.

The main findings, as summarised on the Evangelical Alliance’s Slip Stream web site, are as follows:-

Leaders

  • 98% of church leaders believe the Bible is divinely inspired and 47% think that is free from errors.
  • 90% of leaders say that the Bible actively challenges them to live in a way which runs counter to the present culture in Britain
  • 76% leaders associate Bible poverty with “our own land where the Bible is no longer at the centre of public and family life” and 90% think that the church should work towards a society that takes the Bible more seriously.
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Julian of Norwich

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Recently, I attended a Eucharist.  It being the feast day of Julian of Norwich (8th May), some attention was given within the service to this spiritual writer (1342-c1416).

Those who know me, or who are regular readers of my web site will realise that I was slightly out of my comfort zone at this event.  Clearly, we were firmly within the High Church, or Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England.  A crucifix was prominent, as was a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and various other accoutrements of that tradition.…

Catholic abuse scandal – is celibacy to blame?

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The Catholic clerical abuse scandal is, of course, very bad news: first and foremost, for the victims, second for the Catholic church, and third for all those – inside and outside the Catholic church – who find themselves tarnished by real or imagined association.

The recent remarks of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to the effect that it is homosexuality, rather than celibacy, which lay behind the abuse of children, has led to indignation in many quarters.

My belief (and I’m speaking from long experience in health care generally, and knowledge of long-stay ‘institutions’) is that enforced abstention from heterosexual relationships leads to an increase in the incidence of deviant sexual behaviours.…