I love my historical anniversaries. (Regular readers will know this, as do members of my church!) Anyway, 350 years ago today, on 19 May 1662, The Act of Uniformity received the royal assent in England. This enforced use of the Book of Common Prayer. There is a sad side to compelling the consciences of some Christian ministers, who preferred different ways of ordering their public church assemblies, but I will return to that another occasion. (more…)
Archives: sandy-grant
Happy Birthday, New Bible Dictionary
Review, Sola Panel
This month marks the 50th anniversary of The New Bible Dictionary [Amazon], first published by IVP back in May 1962. Initially edited by James D. Douglas, it featured contributions from a host of evangelical scholars, including Australians like Leon Morris, Donald Robinson, Edwin Judge, Alan Cole, Broughton Knox, and more recently, Peter Jensen and David Peterson. (more…)
After the NIV, then what? The NIV.
Everyday Ministry, Life, Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
Some time ago I wrote about choosing a Bible translation for public use in church. At my church, St Michael’s Cathedral in Wollongong, we’ve decided to go with the 2011 version of the New International Version (NIV11), recently published by Biblica (a.k.a. the International Bible Society). I’d like to follow up on my previous article to tell you about our decision, and why.
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Professor versus Cardinal (#qanda)
Life, Sola Panel
Here in Australia last week’s Q&A on ABC television was an Easter Monday special, featuring Professor Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, and Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal George Pell for a live discussion of faith, science, and morality. The show’s audience was 863,000, its biggest audience since it covered the 2010 federal election. (more…)
The Agony
Life, Sola Panel
Some people would call me aesthetically challenged: I don’t know much about art and music and poetry and literature—but I know what I like. And I’m more a low-brow sort of guy, crime fiction rather than the English classics. (more…)
Preaching: to tweet or not to tweet
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
That is the question. At least that’s the question raised by the twitter feed from my treasured old seminary, Moore College (@MooreCollege if you want to follow them!)
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My twit’s view of Lent
Life, Thought, Sola Panel
Lent was trending on Twitter in my part of the world yesterday. Here’s a sample from the people I follow…
First the funny…
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A second anniversary for Sunday
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
Many North Americans readers will know the second great anniversary that occurs this Sunday is that 200 years ago today, Adoniram and Ann Judson sailed from Massachusetts, on February 19, 1812, apparently the first Protestant American missionaries to travel overseas. (more…)
Anniversary number 1 for Sunday
Life, Sola Panel
This Sunday, on February 19, two very different anniversaries occur.
Because Australians are not always very good at history and The Briefing originates here, I think they are worth noting. They may be of interest to others too. (more…)
Christmas Poetry
Life, Sola Panel
Thanks to the CASE team (CASE = Centre for Apologetic Scholarship & Education) at New College, I’ve enjoyed receiving their quarterly journal for the past few years. Each one has a theme, and they’ve had some real winners in the last two years, including on: (more…)
Exploding Fenella Souter’s Myths of Christmas
Review, Thought, Sola Panel
Last Saturday, the ‘Good Weekend’ magazine published by the Sydney Morning Herald (and the Melbourne Age?), ran an article by Fenella Souter entitled “Truth, Lies and Santa Claus: Exploding the Myths of Christmas” (not available online). (more…)
Problems with the hymn on guidance
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
Recently, we’ve been preaching on Guidance, and to reinforce the theme, I selected “Guide me, O my great Redeemer” as our hymn of the month. (more…)
Don’t get fleeced by Gideon’s guidance!
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
I’ve shared before the concept of “Hymn of the Month”
In November, given our sermon series on Guidance, it makes sense that I selected “Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer” as Hymn of the Month. Here’s what I wrote about it in our weekly church newsletter… (more…)
After the NIV: Appendix 2—1 Timothy 2:1-6
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
This is a good passage to illustrate the difficulty of selecting appropriate gender neutral language for a modern translation. It’s particularly helpful because it takes it away from the more divisive issues like 1 Timothy 2:12. Here I compare the NIV84, ESV, HCSB and NIV11. (more…)