tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-216132392012-01-26T05:35:22.306+11:00This blog is for occasional comment by Andrew McGowan, mainly connected with Anglicanism, Early Christianity, and theological education.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.comBlogger941100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-34107956369980599232011-12-30T12:02:00.005+11:002011-12-31T15:53:06.441+11:00

The virginal conception of Jesus celebrated at this time of year is an obvious problem for sceptics; but it is also a challenge to the faithful. Very orthodox Christian theologians have struggled with the tension between stories that suggest, prima facie, that Jesus has a human mother but God for a father, and on the other hand the creedal belief that Jesus is both truly divine and truly, fully,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-53740842977196096112011-11-23T16:58:00.000+11:002011-11-23T16:58:48.752+11:00

  It can be tempting to think that Christians did not have distinctive culinary habits, or were distinguished from Jews precisely by a lack of particular concerns or rules. There are at least two reasons for viewing such assumptions critically. One is that literary evidence makes clear a variety of preferences and avoidances among the general diversity of early Christian eating practices -

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-77055712813428147042011-11-20T18:25:00.000+11:002011-11-20T18:25:09.776+11:00

[Method and Meaning is available from SBL Press here; this is an extract from the Introduction] There has never been a more diverse set of possibilities for understanding the 
canonical texts of the New Testament, other early Christian literature, and the history 
of the emergent Christian movement that was to become the Church. Diversity in methods of reading the New Testament is of course

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-89308330046837781302011-11-15T15:17:00.000+11:002011-11-15T15:17:39.983+11:00

The story is well known: the King, considering the need to make holy scripture readily available in the vernacular, draws together dozens of scholars who are conversant in its ancient tongues. They combine their efforts, and produce a version still read today, and which has influenced many others. Its importance is such that some have regarded it as inspired in its own right, and as the only

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-75558177385059500852011-10-30T18:10:00.007+11:002011-10-31T10:40:10.327+11:00

Did Paul exist? Yes, obviously in one sense, although there are some curious characters on the edge of biblical studies who might wonder. I mean something more specific: did the classic Paul taken for granted in much contemporary Christianity, the Jewish convert to Christianity, the architect of Gentile freedom, the "apostle of the free spirit" as one evangelical tome put - did he exist? Some

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-64771227691259556572011-10-25T12:06:00.000+11:002011-10-25T12:06:43.257+11:00

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, 
     From this day to the ending of the world, 
     But we in it shall be remembered- 
     We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; 
    For he to-day that sheds his blood with me 
     Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, 
     This day shall gentle his condition; 
     And gentlemen in England now-a-bed 
     Shall think themselves accurs'd

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-3492652002082679732011-09-14T21:32:00.015+10:002011-09-19T16:02:56.769+10:00

Sexual offenders among clergy and church workers have often used their privileged status to act as though they were above the law, and ignore general standards of what is just and fair. Senator Nick Xenophon has acted in a way that is, ironically, all too similar. By using Parliamentary privilege to name an alleged perpetrator identified by one-time Roman Catholic priest and schismatic Anglican

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-75160574357088635872011-09-02T17:25:00.000+10:002011-09-02T17:25:23.111+10:00

T _uacct = "UA-1918113-1"; urchinTracker(); The appearance of Muriel Porter's new book Sydney Anglicans and the Threat to World Anglicanism has unsurprisingly - and properly, I suppose - led to some strong responses from the Diocese of Sydney, which is its subject. After a digest of it appeared on the ABC Religion website, Mark Thompson, who lectures at Moore College and who like me is a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-21600393797727577622011-08-28T22:07:00.002+10:002011-08-28T22:10:18.752+10:00

When this College was founded in 1872, a library was one of the first things required. As a result of gifts and efforts of early benefactors, our collection includes a number of rare and important volumes, including Bibles. We do not have the 1611 first edition of the King James Version whose four hundredth anniversary is being celebrated this year, but there are two copies of the King James from

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-75597968110314712732011-08-09T16:34:00.001+10:002011-08-10T06:39:46.433+10:00

Guy Stroumsa gave the opening lecture of the 16th International Patristics Conference last night, on "Athens, Jerusalem, Mecca: The Patristic Crucible of the Abrahamic Religions" at the University Church. Stroumsa began reflecting how Henry Chadwick, Henri de Lubac and Harry Wolfson were all reflecting on the Church Fathers during horrors of WWII that affected them quite directly (it

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-24162779514283267092011-07-05T08:24:00.002+10:002011-07-05T10:47:32.503+10:00

A gathering in Dresden last month was a rare opportunity for scholars from Russia, Canada, the USA, Australia and Germany to have a sustained conversation about the role of food and meals in early Christianity, and so to share - and generate - research into how Christians and others in the ancient world used meals to reflect and create their communities and beliefs. Mahl und religiöse Identität

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-53812150951648474602011-06-03T09:23:00.004+10:002011-06-03T09:24:57.370+10:00

[From a sermon given at St Peter's College, Adelaide, Ascension Day 2011] [ _uacct = "UA-1918113-1"; urchinTracker(); The story of the Ascension from the Acts of the Apostles assumes a somewhat different view of the physical world from our own. Given that we no longer think of the universe as basically three-storied, with heaven somewhere literally above us and the underworld accessible in the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-69513518207467852632011-05-08T17:16:00.009+10:002011-05-10T11:47:32.602+10:00

[Updated May 9th] The historian Eusebius recounts that when the Roman Christians needed a bishop in about the year 250, they had some possibly miraculous  assistance: They relate that suddenly a dove flying down lighted on [Fabian's] head, resembling the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Saviour in the form of a dove. Thereupon all the people, as if moved by one Divine Spirit, with all eagerness

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-63011511698499930822011-04-23T17:11:00.001+10:002011-04-23T19:20:27.689+10:00

T _uacct = "UA-1918113-1"; urchinTracker(); This year's Eastertide literary sensation is, on the face of it, a conservative rather than a radical one. Since the whole "lead codices" thing peaked too early and fizzed out, there was room for Sir Colin Humphreys' book The Mystery of the Last Supper (Cambridge, 2011) to make it into seasonal opinion pieces open to a bit of wishful thinking about

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-75966587371440946012011-03-28T22:01:00.005+11:002011-03-29T12:22:44.156+11:00

[Based on sermons given at St John's, Toorak, Lent 3 2011] Psalm 95, the Venite of liturgical tradition, tells of the rebellion against God at Massah and Meribah by the Israelites, who had been led out of Egypt but complained (Exod 17). The Psalmist boldly speaks for God: For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-10205261116365864372011-03-13T17:20:00.005+11:002011-03-13T20:04:25.395+11:00

One of the more interesting moments at last year’s Synod for our Anglican Diocese of Melbourne came when a motion concerning Lenten observance was proposed by members including delegates from a prominent evangelical parish. In part it requested that Synod: [ask] parishes and other agencies to encourage their parishioners and members to abstain from the consumption of alcohol during the Lenten

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-29084158712973597482011-03-06T22:58:00.008+11:002011-03-07T08:12:36.934+11:00

[Sermon given at Evensong in the Chapel of Trinity College, March 6 2011.] On All Saints Day, November 1st 1755, the city of Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake. Tens of thousands of people died in the tremor and the following tsunami and fires. The impression the Lisbon earthquake made on European intellectual history was parallel to its physical impact. Philosopher Susan Neiman suggests that

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-37435319660296618122011-01-17T23:39:00.044+11:002011-01-24T21:00:27.275+11:00

Richard Cohen's recent book Chasing the Sun: The Epic Story of the Star That Gives Us Light (Simon & Schuster) has been excerpted in the New York Times and hailed as "dazzling" by a local reviewer in the Age and elsewhere. To produce a work of such apparent erudition, as well as a good read, is no small thing. If I ever decide to write something on a similar scale I hope for generous treatment.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-29165720955131189042010-12-26T09:47:00.000+11:002010-12-26T09:47:54.522+11:00

 [The Age referred to this sermon, given at St Peter's Melbourne at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, in a story on December 26. You may or may not recognize it from the report! I'll accept the "any publicity is good publicity" maxim...] So – the shopping is either done, or you should be past caring. If you forgot the beans or the parsnips, tell the unhappy diners to get over it! In any event,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-55164190289486492242010-11-14T14:33:00.002+11:002011-01-24T21:20:17.128+11:00

[From a Sermon given at the Valedictory Eucharist for the Trinity College Theological School, November 13 2010] "Then Jesus told them a parable..." As you leave here, your degree or your orders will bear eloquent testimony to the fact you were studying “theology”, the logos about theos – you have dared to speak about God. Whether lay or ordained, this is now your calling. I hope that one of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-25217934535270097132010-10-27T18:50:00.003+11:002010-11-29T10:59:10.214+11:00

[Excerpted from a talk at the Annual Dinner of the Friends of St Paul's Cathedral, University House, October 2010]. Ten years ago or so I first saw a satirical version of a pew-sheet offering advice concerning the options available in an Episcopal Church for receiving communion. Part of it went as follows: To receive an ordinary, unleavened Communion wafer, kindly wink your right eye as the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-13613551555291007932010-10-08T22:46:00.002+11:002011-01-24T21:22:13.855+11:00

[Extract from the Sermon given at the opening of the 50th Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, October 6 2010]   Synod is also about words – more printed papers than you can absorb, and more speeches than you’d ever want to listen to (at least this will be the case about mid-way through Friday evening). Whether or not all the words we read or speak in these coming days are the right ones

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-82957140226720521692010-10-08T10:10:00.001+11:002011-01-24T21:24:09.420+11:00

[Extract from the Sermon given at the opening of the 50th Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, October 6 2010] Those of us who come to Synod may have self-selected in such a way that we need less convincing than others that the Church is still important; but we, too, know that being here has its oddities and its challenges. Synod is about the Church. And Church is not, by and large,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-41388797998018827722010-09-24T16:38:00.002+10:002010-09-24T17:54:52.473+10:00

Reflecting within its own life some of the diversity all-too-familiar in the wider Anglican Communion, the Australian Church is an uneasy alliance whose fragility is never more in evidence than at its General Synods. The Anglican Church of Australia is unusual in its loose federal structure, adopted only in 1962 to link dioceses and provinces formed in the colonial era, with distinctive

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-81250833889313923882010-07-31T14:59:00.000+10:002010-07-31T14:59:51.299+10:00

[From a Sermon for Friday July 30 (William Wilberforce); Jer 26:1-9; Ps 69:6-14; Matt 13:54-58] The Judean prophet Jeremiah was a proverbial pessimist whose experience exemplifies one particular dimension of prophecy, namely the costly experience of divinely-mandated truth-telling. Jeremiah received little credit in his own time for accurately presenting God’s judgement of Judea and Jerusalem,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-31997507722465116062010-07-11T15:02:00.007+10:002010-07-16T07:32:22.068+10:00

Many eyes in Australia and beyond have turned to a case currently being argued in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in Melbourne... [This entry has now been published at online news and opinion source Eureka Street; please read it there. Andrew's Version will continue to be updated] _uacct = "UA-1918113-1"; urchinTracker();

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-84175550474381401212010-07-05T11:38:00.000+10:002010-07-05T11:38:22.569+10:00

In the North African city of Carthage in the year 203, Vibia Perpetua, a young mother who was a member of a respectable local family, was detained and tried because of her Christian faith. Among those who attempted to persuade Perpetua to avoid death by the apparently simple and innocuous ritual of scattering incense was her father. Her own account of her trial and imprisonment records their

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-767892780729034432010-06-10T09:20:00.002+10:002010-06-17T22:31:49.270+10:00

Although historians will point to Gene Robinson’s consecration as a bishop in 2003 as the catalyst for the reconfiguration of global Anglicanism, Pentecost 2010 may turn out to have been a watershed of sorts too. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Letter, Renewal in the Spirit, and the responses to it, particular that of Presiding Bishop ++Katharine Jefferts Schori of The Episcopal Church, have

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-45172641611224581182010-05-18T21:18:00.000+10:002010-05-18T21:18:59.490+10:00

There has been recent news about a new bishop whose election and consecration reflects and deepens the divisions within the Anglican Communion. No, not that one. On April 13th, Canon Peter Hayward was consecrated bishop in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney. Bishop Hayward now serves as Bishop of Wollongong, one of the regional Episcopal roles in the Diocese of Sydney. The press release announcing

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-53018732322389411272010-04-02T08:36:00.000+11:002010-04-02T08:36:29.352+11:00

[extracts from a sermon for Good Friday, to be given at the Chapel of Trinity College, Melbourne] In less than three weeks Opera Australia’s production of Brett Dean’s Bliss, based on Peter Carey’s 1981 novel, will open in Melbourne. The premise of Bliss – of the novel, at least – is that the protagonist, Harry Joy, a happy and fulfilled advertising executive with a loving wife and happy

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-75346006501602798432010-02-21T20:14:00.006+11:002010-02-23T12:21:31.970+11:00

“I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes”. It is intriguing that at a time when many, including Christians, are uncertain, suspicious or just ignorant about traditions of self-denial or asceticism, others - including, or even especially in the secular world - are embracing them with resolve. One instance is FebFast - a charitable

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-39613026082416142702010-02-13T11:43:00.006+11:002010-02-13T11:51:24.435+11:00

How then are Christians to understand the character of the cosmos, including its intended diversity and its problematic imperfection, in the light of faith in the transcendent creator God? Augustine speaks of the intended order and beauty of the world, only partially known to us in its present state, as an order of love, ordo amoris. The diversity of material and spiritual things is divinely

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-82921855315724231372010-02-13T10:12:00.005+11:002010-02-13T10:33:12.353+11:00

In Rome last week the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity brought together a group of ecumenical consultants to take stock of the work of dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and its Anglican, Reformed, Lutheran and Methodist partners. These dialogues began in the late 1960s, stimulated by the decree Unitatis Redintegratio (1964) of the Second Vatican Council. This

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-61157586971687328122010-02-04T08:52:00.003+11:002010-02-04T08:56:35.920+11:00

[First in a short series related to discussions among members of the Doctrine Commission of the Anglican Church of Australia on the Church and Ecology] Dualism refers to any philosophical or religious system where two fundamental realities (such as matter and spirit, or good and evil) are understood to co-exist, either eternally or at least in general experience, and often in some tension. In

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-57778017152954551942009-11-29T16:49:00.005+11:002009-11-29T16:59:54.080+11:00

[The last extract from my SBL presentation. I have omitted a section discussing Ignatius of Antioch, in hope I can hold something back for a published version!]Eucharistic meal practice not merely an object of a process whereby a fixed essential idea of sacrifice was gradually used more and more to interpret it. Meals, here as elsewhere in the ancient Mediterranean world, are settings where

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-68986600277216642132009-11-29T16:42:00.013+11:002009-12-05T15:05:14.725+11:00

[a version of this piece was run by the Fairfax media in Australia as an op-ed on their combined National Times site on November 27]Is it time to change the way Australian law deals with marriage? As the Prime Minister and the ACT government wrangle over civil unions for same-sex couples, it seems the peculiarity of Australian marriage law has led to a situation unhelpful and unproductive for

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-53509768170921120862009-11-25T12:51:00.016+11:002009-11-26T15:17:47.105+11:00

The Didache or 'Teaching of the Twelve Apostles' is the next surviving document after Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians directly to address the communal sacral meal of the Christians. This late first or early second century 'Church Order' document also gives a variety of prescriptions for ethics and liturgical life. It also uses the language of sacrifice to refer to the Christian meal.If

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-7733372913960844402009-11-25T08:11:00.012+11:002009-11-27T12:24:14.817+11:00

Paul’s discussion of the communal meal at Corinth in 1 Cor 10 draws on a broad set of images and associations from both Jewish Temple cultus and practices more familiar to gentile Corinthians in local temples.Paul argues that the meal is a sort of communion in the offering of a unique victim: “The cup of blessing that we bless [is] a sharing in the blood of Christ… The bread that we break…a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-21881180236197797252009-11-25T05:23:00.007+11:002009-11-25T08:10:34.533+11:00

[From my paper at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in New Orleans, November 2009: "Sacrificing Eucharists: The Earliest Christian Ritual Meals and their Cultic Context"]The relationship between the Christian Eucharist and sacrifice has long been debated. In this paper I wish not so much to ask yet again whether the Eucharist is sacrificial, as to question the consensus about the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-43990821743249597032009-11-11T15:45:00.009+11:002009-11-11T23:29:40.152+11:00

[An extract from the preface of my new (edited, with Tim Gaden and Brian Daley SJ) book, God in Early Christian Thought; Essays in Memory of Lloyd G. Patterson)]Early Christian studies have changed. New emphases on diversity of thought and practice, and on the experience and belief of Christians other than the great theologians, mean more and deeper attention to a variety of ancient texts beyond

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-16274099703074928892009-10-23T07:15:00.004+11:002009-10-23T07:21:18.906+11:00

[This appears also as the lead article in Eureka Street for October 23 '09]There has been a wide range of responses so far, many of them understandably emotional, to the announcement that structures for Anglicans who wish full communion with the Roman Catholic Church are being prepared. In Britain the stakes are particularly high, since the timing of the move will affect current conversations

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-33009774391149057012009-10-19T17:17:00.005+11:002009-10-19T18:20:24.709+11:00

Is the Eucharist (or Lord's Supper or Holy Communion or Mass...) a necessary or characteristic practice of the Christian Church, or of Anglicanism in particular? Until very recently there could have been no doubt about the answer to the question. Like other Christians, Anglicans regard the sacramental meal as a distinctively Christian action, commanded by Jesus, observed in universal tradition,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-47833455884376503262009-10-15T22:01:00.006+11:002009-10-16T07:32:49.846+11:00

The Government of Victoria, Australia, recently pre-empted a Parliamentary review of Equal Opportunity legislation by announcing that Churches and religious groups would be exempt from the provisions of laws preventing discrimination on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, marital status and parental status.Strictly speaking, what these exemptions offer is not discrimination as such, but an

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-41888532951205866002009-09-06T16:20:00.006+10:002009-09-19T22:49:50.539+10:00

[This week sees the launch of two books related to the late David McComb and the Triffids. To commemorate the event I post a second extract from my essay, "Jesus Calling", in one of the books, Vagabond Holes, edited by Chris Coughran and Niall Lucy and published by Fremantle Press]Late in 2006, Australian author Nikki Gemmel wrote of feeling her expatriate “eyes prickle” while reading the lyrics

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-7340259850387043592009-08-03T09:22:00.006+10:002009-08-03T09:31:52.463+10:00

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a reasonably common view of the Psalms is presented by none other than God. King Arthur and his knights receive a vision of the Almighty and immediately grovel; God responds:Oh, don't grovel! If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people groveling.ARTHUR: Sorry--GOD: And don't apologize. Every time I try to talk to someone it's "sorry this" and "forgive

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-64065971771267219182009-07-06T14:59:00.014+10:002009-07-06T17:05:57.748+10:00

During the early and middle parts of the nineteenth century, Americans became increasingly divided on the question of slavery. Common however across the political divide, due to the success of the Great Awakening and then the Evangelical Revival, was a tendency towards acceptance of the clear authority of the Scriptures understood in their plain, literal sense. Amid the increasing confusion of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-36812269870051326012009-07-06T11:20:00.006+10:002009-10-19T09:09:19.263+11:00

The Anglican Communion worldwide is in continued uproar, with an undoubted if ill-defined realignment in progress. Today (July 6th 2009) the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans will be launched in England, marking another step on the awkward and painful journey variously characterized as one to division or renewal.The topic of Scripture arises here not only because of its perennial importance to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-64475605625963088322009-07-06T11:08:00.008+10:002009-07-06T14:56:19.619+10:00

It is a fine thing to say that scripture is God’s Word, but the imprecision with which this identification is often made can have disastrous consequences.A genuinely scriptural doctrine of God’s Word is not first and foremost a doctrine of the Bible. There is no doctrine of the Bible, in the sense of the complete canon, in Scripture itself, although of course there is a real if limited set of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-40281032783953664432009-07-05T22:57:00.010+10:002009-07-05T23:26:23.158+10:00

The early Christian writers sometimes referrred to as the "Fathers" of the Church do not envisage an understanding of scripture implied by modern Protestant talk of “clarity” or “sufficiency”. Neither, however, do they imply the need for a sort of external ecclesiastical authority as the arbiter of truth for the average Christian.Writers of the late second and early third centuries like Irenaeus,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-49833032092662750122009-07-05T18:58:00.015+10:002009-07-05T23:24:18.690+10:00

Based on a presentation at the St James' Institute Seminar at St Paul's College, Sydney, July 4th 2009In 1663 Puritan minister John Eliot published the first Bible in what was to become the United States of America, and indeed in the western hemisphere.It was not a local printing of a King James or Geneva Bible. Eliot had a great heart for mission to the native Massachuset people, and after

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-80624569158258001392009-06-17T17:05:00.083+10:002012-01-13T23:31:39.441+11:00

[a spin-off from posts "On Religion", here and here] The popular claim in some Christian circles that "Jesus wasn't religious" isn't just a throw-away line; it's a softer version of the old slur that Jesus wasn't Jewish. I'm sure those who say he wasn't religious don't mean to be anti-semitic; they probably don't even mean what the phrase "not religious" would convey to the average person. They

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-43957875591081946022009-06-13T17:45:00.018+10:002009-06-13T21:36:31.037+10:00

From the Melbourne College of Divinity Centenary Colloquium, "Religion at the Crossroads"Odd as it may seem, some Christian Churches are now quite enthusiastic followers of the anti-religious bandwagon – themselves excluded from such rejection of course.“Jesus wasn’t religious” is a catch-cry in these circles – a devastating mistake, and if unintended then still a real slur against his religion,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-61809240887963596062009-06-12T13:40:00.021+10:002009-06-12T19:18:09.716+10:00

Extracted from a presentation at the Melbourne College of Divinity Centenary Colloquium, "Religion at the Crossroads" at Trinity College, Melbourne, June 11 2009.“Religion” is a modern invention. The idea that religion constitutes a distinct realm of thought and practice, to be arrayed alongside of but quite separately from music, physics, cooking, sex, politics and whatever other realms of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-59820970159709682922009-05-24T21:25:00.018+10:002011-06-03T09:01:52.342+10:00

The Ascension of Jesus, commemorated in these few days at the end of the Easter season, is a story that might seem to suggest only Jesus’ divinity. After a violent death, Jesus is seen again alive by his followers, who encounter him a number of times over a period of days or weeks - after which he goes to heaven. The Gospels do not all describe this event, and some seem to assume it but leave

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-55349237682366298272009-05-17T13:08:00.016+10:002009-05-18T20:19:22.502+10:00

In 2007 the Roman Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a set of "Responses to some questions regarding certain aspects of the Doctrine of the Church". Not earth-shattering stuff. The "Responses" repeated or elucidated positions expressed by the Roman Catholic Church about what "Church" is, going back particularly to the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-52196086512707162552009-05-13T22:13:00.007+10:002009-05-13T22:37:23.707+10:00

Excerpted from a lecture on "The Future of Ministry" given at St George's Cathedral, Perth, on May 12 2009.In his recent book on The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, Alain de Botton reminds us that attitudes to the relationship between paid work and the good life have rarely mirrored those of the modern West. Although work has been necessary to every society, we are almost unique in regarding it as

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-76840593551288572622009-05-13T00:01:00.001+10:002009-05-13T00:02:33.372+10:00

Excerpted from a lecture on "The Future of Ministry" given at St George's Cathedral, Perth, on May 12 2009.The English word “priest” is derived from the Greek presbyteros, an elder or presbyter, which clearly connotes a role of leadership and deliberative counsel. However “priest” is also used in Christian as in other contexts to translate a different Greek word, hiereus or the Latin equivalent

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-4772375921579605912009-04-04T14:24:00.003+11:002009-04-04T14:34:45.670+11:00

What was Jesus doing when he was dead?In the First Letter of Peter (3:9, 4:6) there are references to Christ preaching to the dead. This is sometimes linked with the confession in the Creeds that he “descended to the dead” (or to hell). Some traditional interpretations suggest that this retrospective proclamation was his work on Holy Saturday. Hence Jesus was not so much dead as busy elsewhere,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-86674207525712427902009-03-27T14:59:00.008+11:002009-03-27T15:05:27.772+11:00

…a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’Above one of the doors of the 15th century Marienkapelle (Chapel of St Mary) in Würzburg in Bavaria is a remarkable depiction of the Annunciation. God sits regally in heaven, above a more or less

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-35064030910421749192008-12-24T18:01:00.013+11:002008-12-28T17:08:54.614+11:00

The lack of specific information about the timing of Jesus' birth has not kept the enthusiastic and the ingenious from speculating about the exact date of the first Christmas. The silence of the Gospels on this does reveal one thing fairly clearly, however: the earliest Christians were not much interested in the issue. Christmas as such was probably not celebrated in the first couple of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-40288524384416009722008-11-03T11:43:00.005+11:002008-11-03T11:51:17.998+11:00

For Christians in the Middle Ages when these feasts emerged and were at their height, the successive days for All Saints and All Souls covered off two kinds of relationships within that great Communion.On All Saints Day, Christians celebrated those who were in heaven, enjoying the blessed vision of God's presence; and they also sought their support through prayer, believing it was legitimate to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-43479988221759666452008-10-29T18:08:00.032+11:002008-10-30T21:01:52.326+11:00

The Diocese of Sydney's reaffirmation, at its recent Synod, of lay presidency (or as many of its leaders prefer, "lay administration") at the Holy Communion has had Anglicans around the world again wondering what we are putting in the (increasingly scarce!) water down here.Sydney's motives are quite unlike the occasional stirrings in this direction voiced on the liberal edge of US or British

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-27036015091389900332008-09-22T12:01:00.012+10:002008-09-22T12:12:21.056+10:00

From a sermon given at St Stephen's, Richmond.The Collect for today in A Prayer Book for Australia offers a fairly unsubtle interpretation of Matthew’s call by Jesus. While the old Book of Common Prayer (1549 onwards) version of the prayer for the day said that God called Matthew “from the receipt of custom” – referring simply to the way tax collectors of that era collected tolls at bridges and

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-58094666569594462912008-09-18T09:45:00.007+10:002008-09-18T09:54:42.772+10:00

This is an extract from my article Truth and Reconciliation in the Church, published in the most recent number of St Mark's Review (205), 125-36 which contains essays from the Doctrine Commission of the Australian Anglican Church on Sexual Abuse and the Church. The article involves reflections on 'restorative justice' as evidenced in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and on

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-43363843387002543742008-07-14T06:41:00.004+10:002008-07-14T11:47:12.496+10:00

From a sermon given at the Church of the Transfiguration, New York, July 13 2008...the deepest and most extraordinary meaning Christians give to the idea of God’s Word and its economy is our identification of it with Christ himself. The Gospel of John begins with that great Hymn to the divine Word, who was “in the beginning with God” and “through [whom] all things were made.” The evangelist is

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-35109482699995137602008-07-01T02:45:00.008+10:002008-08-14T17:52:36.650+10:00

B_uacct = "UA-1918113-1";urchinTracker();Based on a sermon given at St Peter's Church, Melbourne (Eastern Hill), June 29 2008During the mid-twentieth century, excavations underneath the High Altar at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome uncovered a series of ancient tombs, some pre-Christian and others connected with earlier Churches built on that site. In the early Christian centuries, places of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-41529636838637916572008-06-23T21:40:00.001+10:002008-06-23T21:45:30.905+10:00

Cross-posted (and slightly updated) from my Royal Parade Diary blog, where it seems to have gathered a bit of attention... In the last two weeks I attended historic services in Perth and Melbourne where Australia's first two female Anglican bishops were consecrated. These were moving and joyful occasions, reflections of Anglican diversity as well as celebrations of the full inclusion of women

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-37005969794013501062008-06-14T19:13:00.010+10:002008-06-14T19:29:45.493+10:00

Another extract from the 2008 Morpeth Lecture...I suggest there are now three paradigms of Church distinctly at work in the Anglican Communion, locally and globally. By ‘paradigms’ I mean ways of thinking and acting which, whether or not systematically articulated, have real significance in informing the practice and belief of Anglicans about what ‘Church’ is. And in this instance my interest

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-82921855038246840962008-05-12T20:04:00.003+10:002008-05-12T20:09:10.113+10:00

From a sermon preached at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, on Pentecost 2008There is a growing literature about “the spiritual”, appealing not only to the conventionally religious, but to a wider audience perhaps unconvinced about religion, but convinced that there is something more to their existence than the purely material. There are corporate gurus now interested in “spiritual capital”,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-19066671681925131432008-04-22T22:14:00.007+10:002008-04-22T22:51:15.994+10:00

An extract from the 2008 Morpeth Lecture.While the first Lambeth Conference was taking place and William Tyrrell was working to establish and expand his flock in Newcastle, American Episcopal priest William Reed Huntington was writing a book. Huntington’s career was spent in parish ministry largely divided between two cures, at All Saints’ in Worcester, Massachusetts and Grace Church in the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-50482621087834218162008-03-17T10:58:00.007+11:002008-03-17T17:19:32.476+11:00

Based on a sermon given on Palm Sunday 2008 in the Chapel of Trinity College.The work of funeral directors and of those concerned with the running of cemeteries and crematoria has never appealed to me greatly, with my apologies to fans of the morbid glamour of Six Feet Under. My gratitude however for the fact that there are people who do concern themselves with these indispensable functions has

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-74040514516767448292008-02-11T15:12:00.000+11:002008-02-12T11:28:58.197+11:00

This piece was commissioned by the ABC for their 'Unleashed' opinion pages; it can also be found here, along with a flurry of commentary that seems more or less to underscore my point (mostly unwittingly). More to the point, given my concerns, you can find the original lecture here. Last Thursday, the day after the Christian penitential season of Lent began, Rowan Williams took up his cross in a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-3977098481269226952008-01-13T19:28:00.000+11:002008-01-13T19:47:24.996+11:00

Long ago I played a very minor role in the pre-history of the Triffids, an Australian band which has continued to gain critical acclaim long after its end in the early 90s and the death of singer-songwriter David McComb in 1999. Last year SBS TV featured their Born Sandy Devotional album in a series on Great Australian Albums. A re-formed version of the band is about to play a series of gigs at

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-87726903365406198392007-12-20T10:46:00.001+11:002007-12-20T10:49:15.508+11:00

It is common at this point in the year for the religious to beat up on secularism, commercialism, over-consumption and so on, including making uncomplimentary references to the portly gentleman in the red suit. If this has become an important part of the season for you, I aim not to disappoint, but hold that thought for a moment. First let me suggest that those of us who are trying to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-33487010503263164252007-12-07T23:04:00.000+11:002007-12-08T20:25:03.051+11:00

(Comments at the Launch of Terry Eagleton Presents Jesus Christ - The Gospels [Verso, 2007] at the University of Melbourne, December 7 2007)In the book trade, it has been a better year or two for Jesus than for God. God has suffered the indignities of forays into pulp non-fiction by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and others. Jesus has had wildly different treatments at the hands of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-6259374748734971862007-11-21T16:45:00.000+11:002007-12-03T20:48:04.660+11:00

( (Prepared for the Meals in the Greco-Roman World Seminar of the Society of Biblical Literature, November 2007; see the two previous posts on "Rethinking Eucharistic Origins)FORM 1. Drinking accompanied or preceded (rather than following) some early Christian meals, apparently following some versions of Jewish custom. FOOD AND DRINK 2. Food and drink in early Christian meals varied beyond

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-75118928542567462452007-11-21T16:30:00.000+11:002007-12-03T20:51:14.593+11:00

(The second of three posts related to my presentation at the SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego in November 2007)If the conventional account of eucharistic origins is inadequate, what will be needed to construct an alternative? I suggest three necessary elements or assumptions.One is diversity. Following Paul Bradshaw’s lead – and more distantly Walter Bauer’s – I think the evidence reflects an

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-62209733218230409932007-11-21T16:17:00.000+11:002007-11-21T17:07:37.928+11:00

(from a presentation at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego)Thank you for this opportunity to think with you about my work or the issues it raises. Looking at the program for this Society of Biblical Literature meeting it seems one usually has to be far more distinguished a scholar than I am, or somewhat more dead, to have an entire session devoted to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-52399212636082556182007-11-11T14:17:00.000+11:002007-11-11T14:28:01.175+11:00

When the year 1918 was drawing to a close and the Great War in Europe likewise, the signers of the proposed Armistice scheduled that immensely significant event for November 11th. It was not a random choice, or just a cute idea about a conjunction of elevens. They, less than a hundred years ago, were immersed in a culture of feasts and seasons that we have largely forgotten. They knew that

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-84242710882500391482007-10-23T16:10:00.000+10:002007-10-29T22:38:06.291+11:00

(from the Anglican General Synod in Canberra) The General Synod yesterday voted to explore the possibility that people other than baptized Christians could be married according to Anglican rites, in Anglican Churches. In some ways this is a startling development. Anglicans have always hitherto considered marriage in Church as a matter between Christians, and regarded it as one of those

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-37408355820912211452007-10-22T19:16:00.000+10:002007-10-29T22:38:53.283+11:00

(From the Anglican General Synod in Canberra) In a General Synod so far dominated by procedural and legislative concerns, one large and pressing issue has made its presence felt – water. At the time of writing, Synod was waiting to deal with scheduled motions addressing the environment, and an unscheduled proposal to give a large slab of the national Church’s financial reserves to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-5103874249937496562007-09-09T12:51:00.000+10:002007-09-11T19:23:38.401+10:00

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Colonies, a triumph associated with the name of William Wilberforce. Christians have been quick to celebrate not only the fact but the motivation; for Wilberforce was a convinced evangelical Christian, whose abolitionism was grounded in his belief in the created dignity of the human person and the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-16471581867385746842007-08-04T17:53:00.000+10:002007-08-05T14:13:37.805+10:00

These are extracts from a sermon preached at St Stephen's Church, Richmond, on August 5th._uacct = "UA-1918113-1";urchinTracker();We are more familiar, and yet less comfortable, with the word “martyr” than just a few years ago. “Martyr” and “martyrdom” now appear most often in discussion of terrorist violence – although the occasional football coach given the drop mid-season seems to count. Yet

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-80934405126836754932007-07-16T22:34:00.004+10:002007-07-19T21:52:18.729+10:00

A recent statement from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (“Responses To Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects Of The Doctrine On The Church”), and especially an accompanying commentary reported in L’Osservatore Romano, contain some disturbing reminders about divisions among Christians.Aggrieved reports on these statements often focussed on how they addressed what it means to be “

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-21042768383404424792007-07-15T22:14:00.000+10:002007-07-19T21:55:05.923+10:00

_uacct = "UA-1918113-1";urchinTracker(); Last week there was considerable fuss about a document, “Responses To Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects Of The Doctrine On The Church”, released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, theological watchdog of the Vatican.According to the article signed by Richard Owen and Ruth Gledhill that appeared in many news sources, this “Responses”

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-82718577879844195682007-06-21T20:22:00.000+10:002007-06-24T10:21:51.608+10:00

This is basically a re-post of the entry entitled "Christianity and the Postmodern Empire", from an event on March 24th 2006 when N. T Wright and I spoke to an group in Melbourne. ABC Radio National have just broadcast an edited version, Sunday, June 24 2007.The transcript, which includes N. T. Wright's presentation, parts of mine as actually given, and his and my conversation with each other and

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-42493763590184368862007-06-04T20:16:00.000+10:002007-06-04T20:33:17.363+10:00

(for the Archbishop Appointment Process Review, Melbourne 2007)For when all the brethren had assembled to select by vote him who should succeed to the episcopate of the church, several renowned and honourable men were in the minds of many, but Fabian, although present, was in the mind of none. But they relate that suddenly a dove flying down lighted on his head, resembling the descent of the Holy

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-80837043067094185992007-05-16T21:35:00.001+10:002007-05-23T20:48:55.704+10:00

Late on a Saturday afternoon in October last year, a busload of football players from Ocean Grove who had been at the Caulfield races was driving through Balaclava in the suburbs of Melbourne. Locals, families with children, were walking home. Some of the occupants of the bus leaned out and yelled words including “Go the Nazis”, and motioned as though they were machine-gunning the children. When

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-12310593984610696542007-02-19T22:21:00.000+11:002007-05-16T22:42:03.227+10:00

Debates about the nature of a University usually involve the “liberal” model represented by John Henry Newman’s The Idea of a University, and a more pragmatic ideal that emphasizes the needs of society and training for the professions. University education usually needs both (the Growing Esteem strategy for the University of Melbourne establishes a place for each. Its new undergraduate degrees

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-1166524311865777752006-12-19T21:31:00.000+11:002007-05-16T22:46:26.753+10:00

The last week’s developments in Anglicanism on both sides of the Atlantic have led to fears that after months and years of posturing, things may now be unravelling more rapidly, whether by accident or design. The Melbourne Age ran a story on December 19th referring to ‘severe shocks’ and which quoted me a couple of times (as a ‘leading Liberal’!), perhaps without shedding too much light on the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-1153103260255006852006-07-17T12:27:00.000+10:002007-05-16T22:49:39.372+10:00

Sermon for the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul at the Chapel of St Paul’s College, University of Sydney, June 29th 2006.Ss Peter and Paul, apostles and martyrs, are odd companions, crowded into a single commemoration today despite the fact that they seem to have disagreed often and deeply; what brings them together in the memory of the Church is the tradition that both were martyred under the Emperor

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-1143523098900358752006-03-28T16:18:00.000+11:002007-06-21T15:17:21.740+10:00

This is a draft of my initial contribution to a dialogue between N. T. Wright and myself held in Melbourne on March 24th. The full event was recorded for ABC radio’s Encounter. The Bishop spoke first; +Tom’s own thoughts may of course be a part an eventual radio presentation, but for the meantime interested readers will find some similar points in a talk given last year and transcribed here.[

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-1140934328909738332006-02-26T17:12:00.000+11:002007-05-16T22:51:08.032+10:00

Sermon for the Feast of St Matthias(Acts 1:14-17, 20-26; Ps 84; Phil 3:13-21; Jn 15:9-17)We have heard today that “the lot fell on Matthias”, but we don’t know much about him after he picked it and himself up. Even by the standards of those entries in Books of Saints which most of us have looked up from time to time when called upon to speak or simply to think about one of the apostolic heroes of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304601214734931518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21613239.post-1139123991397810422006-02-05T18:19:00.000+11:002007-05-16T22:52:52.121+10:00

Sermon given at the Ordination of Deacons, St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne, February 4th 2006Twenty years ago less five days, on February 9th 1986, eight deacons were made here in this Cathedral. Many of the ingredients were the same: candidates, families, friends, bishops, clergy - although this time we hope there won’t be a bomb scare. They were, of course, the first women duly ordained as

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