The most profound error has been to use the tools of psychotherapy rather than traditional morality to analyse the slaughter. America is once again on the couch, as everything from the Iraq war to video games to the pressures of modern university life is scrutinised as a possible contributing factor.
Read moreBut what about the rest of us? Are we going to join these students in our grief? Are we going to let our hearts be moved, and turn to God as we mourn? Or are we just going to sit, numbly glued to the TV, and watch as the story is played and replayed?
Read morePaul's own application of Romans 1:24-27 to believers later in Romans
Read moreIf anyone thinks the present spiritual malaise is mainly about The Episcopal Church, or mainline Christianity in America, then I daresay they're naïve about spiritual warfare - not to mention reality outside their window. The demons that have ransacked TEC (to take a single example) are the same ones which have targeted the West as a whole. Indeed, the assault upon orthodox Christianity only makes strategic sense as part of a massive assault upon civilization as we know it.
Read moreThe Anglican Faith also holds, as provided in Article VII, that all members of the Church must obey the "moral commandments given from God by Moses" set forth in Scripture, of which one is the commandment: "do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable" (Leviticus 18:23).
Read moreLet us consider this representation.
OUR POLITY?
In 1991, the General Convention adopted the following resolution, B020:
"Resolved, the house of Deputies concurring, That this Church receive the report of the Standing Committee on Human Affairs as clear evidence of no strong consensus in the Church on the human sexuality issues considered or the resolutions proposed; and be it further
Read moreSometimes you know that you have heard the reality of the gospel as you've never heard it before. Here was a politician, representing a community that had suffered greatly and inflicted great suffering as well, simply saying, 'We were all wrong. We all needed healing and forgiveness. The problem isn't them but us - all of us, or us and them.' And it was as if for the first time you could see the bare bones of what reconciliation means.
Read moreInterestingly enough, there are relatively few scriptural references to reconciliation. Yet those we have clearly cover the whole range of human experience. Certainly, they highlight the depth at which reconciliation needs to bring healing to the human heart. Old Testament references naturally deal with personal and social offenses within Israelite society, or against God, and talk of sin offerings for forgiveness or peace offerings for restitution.
Read moreUnless requested by the bishop of this diocese (which thing I fear), and considering that two of your members sit on the Diocesan Review Committee as effectual judges in this case, to report in open support of the presentment must only mean that you collectively or by majority view the charges leveled as having some merit.
Read more"The Very Rev. Robert Taylor, dean of the cathedral, informed parishioners in a March 21 letter that the church fell short of its annual fund-raising goal and would be laying off the three women."
What makes this news outrageous is the Times report of Taylor's recent raise in salary:
"Church leaders ... said Taylor's raise was to make his salary - $175,000 - comparable to those at Episcopal churches of similar size and was funded through gifts for that purpose."
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