Subversive Christian Unity

Russian Orthodox Church likely not to attend Pan-Orthodox Council / OrthoChristian.Com That's game, set and match, then. Previously , the Antiochian and Bulgarian churches pulled out. 'via Blog this'

This does not have to do with Christian unity, directly, but it does have to do with how Pope Francis looks at things, something that has bearing on efforts toward unity within Christendom. I have reported on many " Francisisms " and am now thinking of discontinuing my coverage of this pope's predilection for saying startling things that later have to be re-explained or even walked back by the rest of the Catholics. I suppose that by now everyone who is paying attention to Catholicism has developed some idea of how to take Pope Francis. The Washington Times - Monday, June 9, 2014 For the first time in Vatican history, the pope allowed for the reading of Islamic prayers and Koran readings from the Catholic facility. The readings and prayer came as Pope Francis met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Vatican City... Read more: Vatican makes history: Pope allows Islamic prayers, Koran readings - Washington Times

Balamand, June 6, 2016  "ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN PAN-ORTHODOX COUNCIL UNTIL ISSUES ARE RESOLVED - ANTIOCHIAN SECRETARIAT" From the secretariart of the Antiochian Patriarchate: During the course of its seventh exceptional session still open since the 25th of May 2016, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Antioch held a meeting on the 6th of June 2016 presided by His Beatitude Patriarch John X and in the presence of Their Eminencies the Bishops, to study the positions of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches...  ... the Bulgarian Church issued, on the 1st of June 2016, a synodical decision in which it mentioned its reservations and asked His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch to postpone the convening of the Great Council to  a later date while actively continuing its preparatory works, otherwise it refrains from taking part in it. Read more:  Antiochian Orthodox Church will not participate in Pan-Orthodox Council until issues are resolved

If you're on Twitter, follow Professor Peter Kreeft for tweets that are by turns witty and profound, and sometimes both at once. The 2 Principles of Atheism: 1. There is no God. 2. I hate Him. — Peter Kreeft (@ProfessorKreeft) May 26, 2016 SpanInquisition wrongly destroyed heretics so as to rightly destroy heresies Today,some wrongly love heresies so as to rightly love heretics — Peter Kreeft (@ProfessorKreeft) May 20, 2016

Islam and Christianity share 'idea of conquest', says Pope Francis | World news | The Guardian Oh dear. 'via Blog this'

Click for article:  Pope calls for commission to study reinstating female deacons - Vatican Radio As I have previously remarked , I do not really object to Pope Francis's constant launching of trial balloons in matters of Catholic thought and church policy. In a way, I admire him for using his office to provoke conversation, even if sobersided churchmen later walk back some of his remarks. I have dubbed these forays Francisisms and tagged under that name the more notable examples. In this one, he has floated the idea of females in the diaconate. Here he might usefully consider the experiences of others, by taking a look at the 19th-century revival of the office of deaconess in the Lutheran and Anglican churches. 'via Blog this'

Here is another of the species of papal pronouncements that I have dubbed Francisisms : headline-grabbing, crowd-pleasing remarks by Pope Francis that later need to be walked back by others in his church. What you thought you heard was not what was truly said, or meant at least. "May 4, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, considered second only to the pope as the Vatican's authority on doctrinal matters, has responded to the question of whether Pope Francis’ recent exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, has opened the door to giving Communion to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s response is unambiguous: the Church’s teaching cannot be changed, and the exhortation did not do so." Read more:  Cardinal Müller: Pope’s exhortation does not allow Communion for divorced/remarried | News | LifeSite : 'via Blog this'

Tim Keller on The 3 Biggest Idols In Western Churches Today | Gospel Relevance I suggest you read this bullet-point article about the idols in our midst. I am particularly taken with the point that church doctrine can become an idol. 'via Blog this'

The disease decimating mainline Protestantism has two main symptoms: Cheap-grace antinomianism that holds forth the promise of forgiveness, without issuing the call for amendment of life. Thus, only half of the message of grace is preached, the more appealing part. "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" Well, yes, for who are we to judge? After all, judge not! This fatuous self-excusal from seeing ourselves as moral failures leads to a distorted understanding of reality, for from time to time we all fall down morally, and there is none of us who could not do with a bit more holiness. Social syncretism. The mainline senses the spirit of the age and confuses that with hearing the Holy Spirit. Societal causes and movements are force-fit into a Christian frame. The loud debate about the authority of scripture is really a debate about this. For example, the church now feels an imperative toward marrying homosexuals to each other, the scriptures do not provide fo

Click to enlarge... via Facebook

Via Facebook :

I highly recommend that you click this link and look at an engaging and funny cartoon which gets at a very serious issue. The problem addressed is not only one of personal error but also the root cause of many separations and schisms, various misunderstandings people have about the nature of God. Which Jesus do you worship? - Adam4d.com 'via Blog this'

Didache. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (translation Roberts-Donaldson). : The Didache is a short manual of Christian practice from the first century (or possibly the second). It is still of significance because it gives us important clues about the continuity of what we do and say in our times with what early Christians did and said. Christians back then had many of the same moral concerns as we do now: You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born.   (Ch. 2) They recognized, perhaps more clearly than we do today, the problems associated with money-grubbing false teachers: Let every apostle who comes to you be received as the Lord. But he shall not remain more than one day; or two days, if there's a need. But if he remains three

I am pleased to report that many people of my acquaintance, pastors and teachers in various denominations, are speaking out against lightweight, cheap grace, thoughtlessly feel-good Christian sentimentality, and against the moral lawlessness that frequently accompanies a gospel of all sunshine and lollypops. A gospel that speaks as if the Christian life is free of trials and torments and troubles makes me wonder just how that is even slightly plausible, but there is an answer of sorts in Hebrews 12:7-8. via  http://www.whatisthegospel.org.uk/ A related ill in the church world is thinking that it is not nice or proper to talk much about our trials. That idea is all wrong--we should talk more about our trials. If we do not tell others what is going on with us, we may lead other people who have troubles in life to think their problems are somehow new and different, despite 1 Peter 4:12-13. It is not quite a matter of misery loving company, more a matter of helping others to s

At present, these are the most-read posts on the blog. The deconstruction of love Sep 15, 2015 Science versus religion is a phony issue Jul 14, 2014 The true bride and the bimbos Apr 3, 2015 Reality, fantasy and ecumenism Oct 17, 2015 Jesus the Commie May 8, 2014 Cessationism on the duck farm Aug 24, 2015 What is included in the kerygma? Nov 30, 2012 Dating is hard! Nov 16, 2015 Gays and Christianity: The same old story Sep 19, 2015 Charismatic abuses and abusers Apr 10, 2015

via Facebook

via  Facebook I have remarked before on the lite beer antinomianism in which the preaching of God's grace makes people complacent about their sins. There is no progress toward amendment of life because God's grace has you covered. It is a simpleminded little transactional model in which God pays off our tab as we run it up. The message is insidious because it is so nearly the gospel, and it is easy for anyone to understand. Thus, it is readily accepted as the truth. But God's grace should be leading us (even if quite slowly sometimes, for we drag our feet) toward greater holiness, not complacency about our unholiness. That is not to minimize the troubles I and others have with besetting sins which, for some, become a combat of a lifetime's duration. But we are fighting, that is the difference. We do not shrug at our sins. Sometimes the message of God's grace is orthodox when it comes out of the preacher's mouth, but turns antinomian as it enters

What if we say that the real doctrine of a church is what the lay people understand and take away from church to put into practice in their lives?  How much difference is there, in that practically realized doctrine, from one church to another? If it is the Spirit that empowers and enables and guides our deeds and lives--well, there is only one Holy Spirit and we would expect him to want the same sorts of things from us whether we are Baptists or Catholics or Orthodox or whatever else we may happen to be. Whatever else we may be. . .or whatever we may think or pretend we are. For if there really is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God, then it must be that the practical outworkings are going to be similar across the board--if indeed Christ's Spirit lives within us. The practical outworkings of real and sound Christian faith look very similar across our denominational and doctrinal boundaries. We are of one faith more in our deeds than our words. We all know about thi

Canterbury, 15 Jan. 2016.   Frank Augstein/Associated Press Thinking that Christian doctrine cannot be stretched to encompass the whole of the gay rights agenda is "homophobia," a secular sin, in that what forbids it is the church of fashionable opinion.

Submitted for your consideration: a clear explanation of liberal Episcopalian thinking on what they style marriage equality. It was posted months before the Anglican primates' gathering in January of 2016, at which the primates called into question the direction the Episcopal Church had taken in this matter. I present this video so that you can get a clear view of what it is that a certain segment within the Episcopal Church is currently defending. Their rhetoric at the moment is a bit shrill; you cannot expect to get a clear understanding of the question from it. Here the matter is laid out calmly. Of course, my point here is to try to clarify the discussion by returning it to its real subject. Source:  http://www.episcopalrochester.org/content/lay-deputy-update-neil-and-susan-talk-marriage-equality-church

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry As you perhaps know already, the primates of the Anglican Communion just concluded a week of closed-door meetings in the crypt at Canterbury Cathedral. The Episcopal Church, USA, was censured for moving forward with gay marriages, counter to the doctrine of Anglicanism in general. It is a clear affirmation of historical orthodoxy by the Anglican mainstream, but the rebuke was a lighter one than some traditionalists wanted. Here is the sentence passed upon the Episcopal Church by the gathered primates: “It is our unanimous desire to walk together. However given the seriousness of these matters we formally acknowledge this distance by requiring that for a period of three years The Episcopal Church no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision making on