"Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:4 NKJV
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Message from Bishop David Anderson
|
 | |
Bishop Anderson
|
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
Breaking news this week has been the so-called "discovery" of a Coptic scrap of parchment with text that some people allege to be part of Holy Scripture, and which bears words making reference to Jesus' "wife." I am skeptical about this discovery, and think at best it is part of a heretical gospel rejected by the Christian churches, and at worst a modern day forgery designed to advance a point of view. I am sure that over the next year scientific scrutiny will help us place this in the proper context. One issue of concern is the agenda of the Hollis Professor of Divinity, Karen King, who has been and is an outspoken advocate for feminist thought in Biblical studies. She is the author of numerous books that would seem to be harmonious with this revelatory "discovery." We have included an article today by a professor of systematic theology, Thomas White, who helps us to begin to think about the issues involved.
The Bible as we have received it has no mention of Jesus ever marrying or having any offspring despite the fact that it would have been quite normal, even expected, for a rabbi to have a family. Scripture is simply silent, giving us no reason to suppose that Jesus had a wife or children. Additionally, we know from Holy Scripture that the Apostle Peter was married and had a wife, so if Jesus had a wife there is no reason for it not to be recorded. This does mean that the first "Pope" of the Christian Church was married, and Scripture also says that a bishop should be the husband of one wife, all of this being somewhat out of sync with both the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic traditions of unmarried bishops, archbishops, popes, etc. Although the Anglican Communion is in some ways torn, battered, and distressed at the present, it does maintain the tradition of married bishops (for which I am grateful), archbishops, and Anglican Communion Primates.
|
|
|
|
Here in the metro Atlanta area a local school superintendent of Clayton County was in the final stages of being hired as superintendent of a California school district. Well, "final stages" may not be exactly correct, it was more that he was chosen and had resigned from his current position, and suddenly things blew up. The problem: it was discovered by the Californians that the Clayton County Superintendent believed in traditional marriage between a man and a woman; how shocking, how outrageous, how inconceivable!! Imagine an educator believing what the world has believed since God created the first human being! Clearly, the California selection committee thought that if you supported one man-one woman marriage you had to be hateful, homophobic, and Neanderthal in outlook, and they pulled the job offer. So there is now a school superintendent down here who is now looking for a better place to work than for the bunch of clowns he almost went to work for. It does illustrate that some of the people who talk the "progressive" line about love, peace, broadmindedness, no hate, acceptance, and toleration are the meanest and most biased, who will use every effort to suppress or extinguish any points of view in conflict with their own.
On the same general subject, the Minnesota Roman Catholic archbishop has organized and strongly encouraged support for a state referendum to establish one man-one woman marriage as the standard for the state. The predictable push back is active; this last week the Minnesotans United for All Families (read gay and lesbian, transgendered, etc.) have featured a supposed Republican Roman Catholic heterosexual couple asking fellow Minnesotans to vote NO on the amendment. Clergy from various denominations have lined up supporting either the Archbishop or the Minnesotans United. Naturally, the Episcopal Church is fighting against the traditional marriage amendment. The Star Tribune covers the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota passing the resolution opposing marriage amendment here.
When you go shopping at the local strip mall you may see a Hobby Lobby; we have one near us that we patronize. What you may not know is that Hobby Lobby is owned by a couple who are orthodox Christians, active in supporting charitable causes and Christian work. The founder and CEO, David Green and his wife Barbara, signed a 2010 pledge to donate a majority of their wealth to charitable causes, and they are doing that. They are responsible employers in how they treat and pay their employees, and, like Chik-Fil-A restaurants, their stores are closed on Sundays to give their employees time to be with family and attend their place of worship if they so choose. They are now being threatened by the requirements of the Obama healthcare mandate with fines that may approach $1.3 million per day (see article included below). It isn't that they are against birth control per se, but their strong support for the right of a conceived child to be born alive has led them to oppose certain mandated medical procedures that have to be included as options in an employer insurance plan. The decision would be the mother's, but the insurance would have to cover abortifacient drugs. The Green's do not want Hobby Lobby to provide employer-paid abortifacient drugs through any insurance program.
If they continue to refuse to participate in government-mandated insurance covering drug-induced abortions, the current Administration could fine them out of existence to teach them and all of us a lesson. That would close 500 arts and crafts stores in 41 states and put over 22,500 people out of work. The Green's and Hobby Lobby probably could use a word of encouragement from those of us who support a child's right to be born alive. It does make me wonder and worry about what has happened to our government and to our American freedoms. Pray for the Green family, for the Clayton County Superintendent, and for all of us whose right to live and believe our Christian faith is more and more under active persecution by those who should be defending it.
Blessings and peace in Jesus,
+David
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
|
A Message from Canon Ashey
|
 | |
Canon Ashey
|
Troubling questions about the Anglican Alliance and Trinity Wall Street
Dear Friends in Christ,
This week I wrote an article for our weekly International Update about last week's meeting of the Anglican Alliance in Nairobi, Kenya. The Anglican Alliance is an international initiative headed by the Anglican Communion Office in London that attempts to coordinate Anglicans' efforts at economic development, relief aid and advocacy. The recent meeting in Kenya focused on micro-finance, which is a means of extending credit, usually in the form of small loans with no collateral, to nontraditional borrowers such as poor but aspiring entrepreneurs in rural or undeveloped areas.
Microenterprise development is a very valuable activity, pioneered in the Anglican Communion by the Five Talents organization, which was launched at the Lambeth Conference in 1998.
I spoke with Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of Kenya, who attended the meeting. ++Eliud Wabukala is the spiritual head of millions of Anglican followers of Jesus Christ, one of the largest churches within the Anglican Communion, and Chair of the global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and its Primates Council. When I asked him for his reflections on the meeting, he sent me the following written comment:
"In the tradition of African hospitality, last week I welcomed to Nairobi members of the Anglican Alliance Economic Empowerment workshop and those, coincidentally, attending a seminar on a similar theme at the Fairview Hotel, sponsored by TEC's Trinity Wall Street. In my remarks to both groups I made it clear that all that we do in humanitarian work must have witness to the gospel at its heart.
Unfortunately, the institutions of the Anglican Communion are not able to reflect a common vision of the gospel and we must ensure that our zeal to combat material poverty does not blind us to the spiritual poverty of those who do not know Christ as Lord and Saviour. Our unity as a Communion cannot be built on making economic empowerment an end in itself."
- Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya
In my article for our International Update, I raised questions about the Anglican Alliance's choice not to articulate a common vision of the gospel as the basis for works of justice and mercy. As Archbishop Wabukala notes, this reflects a deeper failure of the institutions of the Anglican Communion at present to address the spiritual poverty of those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I further addressed the issue in this week's Anglican Perspective video.
But today I would like to raise a different question: Why is the Anglican Alliance meeting at the same time and in the same proximity as a meeting sponsored by TEC's Trinity Wall Street? This is a very troubling question because of the possible linkage of an official agency of the Anglican Communion with the theological agenda of TEC-especially since that agenda is significantly fostered through grants and relationships with Trinity Wall Street.
As a British observer has noted, "A recent item in Episcopal News about a speech in New York by Sally Keeble, the Director of the Anglican Alliance, is very instructive: '...it's going to be bureaucracy light," she said, with a very small staff in London and regional facilitators in the southern regions of the communion who will have "a very direct relationship" with existing agencies such as Episcopal Relief & Development.' Bearing in mind that a number of orthodox African provinces have taken a costly and principled decision not to take funds from Episcopal Relief & Development [or Trinity Wall Street] as a ministry of TEC, the attempt to set up 'very direct' relationships with the Global South is a thinly disguised attempt to hold the Lambeth-based Communion together through grants rather than gospel."
Is it merely a coincidence that the Anglican Alliance and Trinity Wall Street were meeting at the same time, and in the same proximity? Or is it the case that The Anglican Alliance is acting as a kind of "gatekeeper" for potential beneficiaries of Trinity Wall Street (and perhaps even Episcopal Relief and Development)? Is this merely a coincidence, or is it a silent partnership with TEC to educate Anglicans in the Global South with a false gospel through grants instead of the divinely inspired word of God?
We can certainly hope and pray that is not the case. Faith without works is dead (James 2:16), and we can certainly praise the efforts of the Anglican Alliance and others to address the material poverty of the poor, the homeless, the naked, the prisoner, the oppressed, the sick and the suffering. Such ministry is at the very heart of what Jesus himself proclaimed (Luke 4:16-21).
But it is very troubling that at the same time the Anglican Alliance confesses it cannot yet come up with a shared Biblical vision for works of justice and mercy-a Biblical vision which is obvious to most Anglicans in the Global South-the Anglican Alliance seems to be partnering with TEC, a church in the Anglican Communion whose leadership and theology have long since abandoned their faith in the divine inspiration of God's word, the Bible, in favor of progressive revelation. Without a robust, shared Biblical vision and theology for works of justice and mercy, all we have to fall back on are secular gospels of good works apart from the person and power of Jesus Christ to address the whole person, spiritual as well as material poverty. This would explain why the UN's Millennium Development Goals are mentioned more often than the name of Jesus Christ by the Presiding Bishop of TEC when she encourages her flock to do good works.
The Rev. Canon Chris Sugden wrote, "The secular NGOs and the United Nations have become the new missionary societies. They have a gospel of secular development and secular human rights. This is being pressed ever harder on the vulnerable nations of the Global South. The Primate of Nigeria called for the UN organisations to leave Nigeria if they continued to undermine sexual morality with their approach to HIV/AIDS. The Anglican Church of Nigeria DIVCCON conference of 2011 rebuked the British Prime Minister for suggesting that western aid would be linked to the adoption of a western understanding of human rights."
Archbishop Wabukala put his finger exactly on the challenge for Anglicans today: "Our unity as a Communion cannot be built on making economic empowerment an end in itself... all that we do in humanitarian work must have witness to the gospel at its heart." When Anglicans give away their confidence in the Bible as the divinely inspired fountainhead of doing works of justice and mercy (Mic.6:8), then they place themselves at the mercy of secular elites and their shifting ideologies-especially in the more developed nations-whose notions of justice and mercy are nothing but moving targets, far from God and incapable of transforming the human heart and spirit. Our Anglican identity is based not only on what we do together, but what we believe and confess together about Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of all, and the only healer of every dimension of poverty.
Yours in Christ,
Phil+
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
Chief Operating and Development Officer, American Anglican Council
Back to top |
The facts about the 'Jesus' wife' fragment
| Source: Thomas White blog
September 19, 2012
By Thomas White
With all the television publicity over Karen King's recent release of information about the fragment of "Jesus' wife," pastors will likely receive questions from members this weekend or in the near future. For us, there will be two main questions. First, was Jesus married and does it matter. Second, what does "she will be able to be my disciple" mean in the discussion over proper women's roles. Last night the news interviewed me on the matter. Since I had to do a little research I thought I would share it with you. If you know me well, then you know I am just a simple country boy so here is a Southern Fried guide to the fragment of "Jesus' wife."
The Facts About the Fragment:
- The fragment is smaller than a business card with eight lines on one side legible under a magnifying glass with about four words per line.
- The fragment comes from the middle of a text which means you lose context on all sides.
- They think the fragment comes from the 4th century. It is written in an Egyptian language-Coptic, and is thought to be a translation of a 2nd century document. This has not yet been verified.
The Facts About Karen King:
- Karen King, Hollis Professor of Divinity, holds the oldest endowed chair in the United State (1721) at Harvard Divinity School.
- Her books include "The Secret Revelation of John; The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle; What Is Gnosticism?; Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity; Revelation of the Unknowable God, Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism (ed.) and Women and Goddess Traditions in Antiquity and Today (ed.)....
No matter how good a fish-tale you weave, this fragment is small. You can see the translation at Boston.com. You really can't gather much information from a business card. Also the document dates too late to have impact. The Gospels have authenticity because of the date of their writing, the connection to an eye witness, and consistency with the rule of faith. Any fragment too far removed from Jesus' time loses credibility because of the distance from Jesus' life, and we can't know who wrote it or what agenda that person may have had. At best, this document tells us what people were thinking in the second or fourth century. Yes, it is interesting, but no, it does not change anything. Too bad this fragment wasn't released with The DaVinci Code. Its anonymous owner would receive a much higher pay day if it had been. Bottom line is that we have older and more reliable documents in our Bibles....
The rest of the article may be found here.
Thomas White serves as Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
|
Minnesota archbishop, dozens of clergy issue call to defend marriage
| Source: LifeSiteNews
September 19, 2012
By Johanna Dasteel
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Archbishop John Nienstedt of the diocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis stood on the steps of his State Capitol Tuesday and issued a call to all his fellow Minnesotans - Catholics and non-Catholics alike - to vote in favor of an amendment that would preserve the true definition of marriage.
"What we so rarely hear on the discussion on the marriage amendment is that it is meant to be a positive affirmation of both the beauty as well as the importance of this fundamental union for society," said Nienstedt, "and even more so for the children who are born of that relationship, that is to say the next generation to come."
"I ask all Minnesotans - all Minnesotans - to join us in voting yes on November 6th."
The archbishop was joined by about 40 Minnesotan clergy from a variety of denominations.
The main group opposed to the marriage amendment has been at pains to convince believers that supporting gay 'marriage' jibes with their faith. Just this week Minnesotans United for All Families launched an ad, part of a multi-million dollar campaign, featuring a Republican Catholic couple, John and Kim Canny, in which the couple asks Minnesotans to vote no on the amendment.
But the efforts to recruit Catholics and Christians to the cause have been stymied by the consistently clear voice of the Catholic leadership in the state....
The rest of the article may be found here.
Back to top |
|
Hobby Lobby fights $1.3 million-per-day HHS mandate fine in court
| Source: LifeSiteNews
September13, 2012
by Kathleen Gilbert
OKLAHOMA CITY - The Obama administration is set to levy as much as a $1.3 million per day fine against a Christian retail business based on their religious objection to abortifacient drugs, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., with more than 500 arts and crafts stores in 41 states and
 | |
David and Barbara Green
|
over 22,500 employees, is reportedly the largest for-profit business yet to file suit over the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate requiring businesses to provide free abortion-causing drugs, such as the "week-after" pill Ella, as non-negotiable "preventive services."...
A spokeswoman for the Becket Fund told LifeSiteNews.com that administration officials have yet to respond to the latest case.
There are now 28 separate lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate, according to the Becket Fund, which is also representing Wheaton College, Belmont Abbey College, Colorado Christian University, the Eternal Word Television Network, and Ave Maria University against the rule.
One U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma said he was proud that Hobby Lobby "decided to take a stand against this obvious attack" on religious freedom, and noted that a U.S. District Judge already blocked enforcement of the mandate against a company in Colorado this summer....
The rest of the article may be found here.
Back to top |
|
Anglican leaders condemn anti-Islam film and violence
| Source: Anglican Communion News Service
September 19, 2012
By Tarsila Burity
Anglican leaders across the Communion have spoken out about The Innocence of Muslims, a film containing anti-Islam content which has so far triggered protests, violence and death in countries like Libya and Egypt.
Both Anglican and Catholic Archbishops in New Zealand have condemned the film, its message and its promotion, alongside the Federation of Islamic Associations President and the city of Wellington's Regional Jewish Council Chairperson, Race Relations Commissioner and local Bishops.
According to Anglican Taonga magazine, the group labelled the film (which openly defames the Islamic prophet Muhammad) as "irresponsible" and "inflammatory", saying it was dishonestly made and presented, and designed to mislead, provoke hate, and cause harm.
"We call on all faith communities in New Zealand to remain calm and to strive to foster mutual understanding, counter hate, and promote dialogue, within and between our communities", they said.
In the Middle East, the Most Rev. Mouneer Anis, President Bishop, Jerusalem & the Middle East & Bishop in Egypt (one of the countries directly affected by protest and violence) has said that the response to this film was out of proportion and led to the death of innocent people, like the US Ambassador in Libya. "We here made it clear that we Christians reject this kind of provocative film", he said.
As an attempt to avoid future hostility, Bp Anis united with fellow bishops and has written a letter to Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, asking for a declaration that outlaws "intentional and deliberate insulting or defamation of persons (such as prophets), symbols, texts and constructs of belief deemed holy by people of faith".
European Anglicans have also responded to the video. The Bishop in charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, denounced the film by issuing a statement from Paris on 17th September.
In it he said: "This crude bit of anti-Islam propaganda is nothing more than hate speech, and in France and several other European countries the producers would be facing charges. In the United States, it is famously illegal to cry "fire" in a crowded theater - freedom of speech does not cover every expression"...
The rest of the article may be found here.
Back to top |
|
Study: Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion
| Source: Pew Forum
September 20, 2012
A rising tide of restrictions on religion spread across the world between mid-2009 and mid-2010, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. Restrictions on religion rose in each of the five major regions of the world - including in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, the two regions where overall restrictions previously had been declining.
The share of countries with high or very high restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose from 31% in the year ending in mid-2009 to 37% in the year ending in mid-2010. Because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, three-quarters of the world's approximately 7 billion people live in countries with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, up from 70% a year earlier....
The rising tide of restrictions in the latest year studied is attributable to a variety of factors, including increases in crimes, malicious acts and violence motivated by religious hatred or bias, as well as increased government interference with worship or other religious practices. For instance, a November 2009 constitutional referendum in Switzerland banned the construction of minarets on mosques in the country. In Indonesia, more than two dozen churches were forced to close due to pressure from Islamist extremists or, in some instances, local officials. And in Nigeria, violence between Christian and Muslim communities, including a series of deadly attacks, escalated throughout the period....
The rest of the article may be found here.
Back to top |
|
Brazil: The Diocese of Recife elects its fourth Diocesan Bishop
| Source: Anglican Mainstream
September 17, 2012
In a process that started back in February with the tragic death of the Right Rev.
 | |
Bishop elect Uchoa - George Conger photo
|
Robinson Cavalcanti and with the support of its international partners, GAFCON and Anglican Church of North America, the Diocese of Recife, Brazil elected the Rev Miguel Uchoa its fourth Diocesan Bishop on Saturday September 15.
The diocese of Recife is a signatory of the Jerusalem Declaration. On Saturday the Extraordinary Synod elected the Rev Miguel Uchoa, founder and rector of the church of Holy Spirit as its Bishop. The election was completed on the first ballot with 79,5% of the votes of laity and 61,5% of the clergy. The election took place in a calm and friendly atmosphere in the presence of two international observers sent by the GAFCON/FCA, the Rt Rev Bill Atwood and Mr. Jeffrey Garrety, chancellor of the Intermational Diocese of ACNA. The Rev Miguel Uchoa is now the fourth elected Diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Recife which was founded in 1976.
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
