Forget the Channel: lionelwindsor.net
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Replacing the Spirit with the sacraments
I’ve been listening recently to an online lecture series called Space, Time, [Matter] and Sacraments. The speaker (an influential Church of England Bishop called N. T. Wright) posed some very important questions. For example: How is the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection made “real” to us in our own lives now? How is…
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Jesus, the Son of Man, as presented in the Gospel of John
Lionel Windsor (2003) Synopsis The essay begins with the proposal by Barnabas Lindars that ‘The central aim of the Johannine christology is to expound the intimate relationship of Jesus and God. For this purpose John takes over the idea of the Son of Man, [. . .]’. Lindars’ case has some merit, but has isolated…
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Thomas Cranmer the Protestant reformer during the reign of King Henry VIII
Lionel Windsor (2004) Introduction: A Protestant Reformer? For a comfortable theoretician to assess the actions of a man caught up in the cut and thrust of national and international politics is a precarious business, as Martin Bucer warned when, in 1537, the humanist Grynaeus lamented Thomas Cranmer’s slowness to bring about reform in England.1 To…
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What is this thing we call the local church?
Lionel Windsor (2005) I’m thinking of asking a dangerous question. It’s a question that I need to ask, but the very act of asking it threatens to lead me astray. The question is this: ‘What is St. Blogg’s?’ This may seem like a strange question, but let me explain why I need to ask it,…
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Admitting our sins
On the Sola Panel: I’d like to admit something to you. My admission isn’t particularly juicy or scandalous, but it’s an admission, nonetheless. The admission is this: I’m not honest enough with people when it comes to my sins. I don’t admit my sins to others often enough. The reason I don’t do it is…
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The Development and Significance of the Remnant in the Old Testament Prophets
By Lionel Windsor (2003) Synopsis There are two concerns fundamental to the prophetic writings. The first is the relationship between the judgment and blessing by God of his covenant people. The second is the meaning of ‘the people of God’. The idea of ‘remnant’ is a key to the exploration and transformation of these ideas…
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Republishing older articles
Many of the older articles on this site are PDFs or static HTML pages. Over the next few months, in order to update my site, I’ll be publishing these older articles as blog posts, at a frequency of one post every few days.
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The Syrophoenician woman
From the Sola Panel: One of Jesus’ most jarring statements occurs in the story of the Syrophoenician woman, Mark 7:24-27: And from there [Jesus] arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately…
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The community gospel part 2
On the Sola Panel: In my previous post, I mentioned a powerful and dangerous combination: A need in the world + an implication of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This formula is like dynamite. Used properly, it has the power to move mountains. But unless it is handled with care, there is the potential for…
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The community gospel part 1: A powerful and dangerous formula
From the Sola Panel: On 7 May, 1867, a man called Alfred Nobel obtained patents for a very powerful and potentially very dangerous formula: 3 parts nitroglycerin—C3H5(NO3)3 + one part diatomaceous earth + a small admixture of sodium carbonate—Na2CO3 This is the classic formula for dynamite. Used properly, it can move mountains. But unless it…
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Is Anyone Righteous?
From the Sola Panel: This is a postscript to my biblical word power series, responding to an excellent question from a bloke at my previous church: Ecclesiastes 7:20 states that there is not a righteous man on earth. Psalm 14 states that there is no one righteous. So why does the Bible say that Noah,…
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The arrogance of a theological liberal
Sometimes I’ve heard evangelicals (like myself) accused of being narrow-minded, sectarian, intolerant; acting as if they, and they alone, understand what the Bible is all about. But whatever accusation anyone could possibly throw at us along these lines has nothing on William Wrede, whom I’m reading to get a bit more acquainted with late 19th-century…
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Improve your theological word power: Imputation
On the Sola Panel: Today we are going to conclude our series on biblical word power with something slightly different: a brief introduction to imputation. ‘Imputation’ is not actually a word used in the Bible. Nevertheless, imputation is still a very important word, because it can help us to plumb the depths of the issues…
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In Durham
It’s been a little while between posts: by God’s grace, our family has just completed the transition from Wollongong, Australia to Durham, England in order for me to undertake further study for the sake of long-term theological education in Australia and Malaysia. We’ve been quite occupied travelling and getting set up in Durham. The posts…
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Using your biblical word power: Justification through Atonement
From the Sola Panel: Today we’re continuing the series on biblical word power. This time we will seek to use what we have learned about the meaning of some important biblical words, so that we can come to grips with a very significant story told by Jesus. Definitions To recap our key biblical definitions: Righteousness…
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Improve your biblical word power 4: Atonement
From the Sola Panel: This post is the fourth in a series designed to help you to get to know and love some of the important words used in the Bible. Today we’ll learn the basic meaning of the word ‘atonement’. Atonement: a definition Let’s start with a definition of the word ‘atonement’: Atonement =…
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Improve your biblical word power 3: Justification
On the Sola Panel: This post is the third in a series designed to help you to get to know and love some of the important words used in the Bible. Today we’ll learn the basic meaning of the word ‘justification’. To recap In the first post, we saw that, Righteousness = being in line…
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John Calvin on Union with Christ
Contrary to some modern caricatures, predestination is not at the centre of Calvin’s teaching on the Christian life. Calvin, whose 500th birthday we’ve just celebrated, certainly taught and defended predestination; but the biblical heartbeat of his teaching about the Christian life is Union with Christ. Preached at St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong, on 19 July…
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Improve your biblical word power 2: Forensic righteousness
From the Sola Panel: This post is the second in a series designed to help you to get to know and love some of the important words used in the Bible. Today we’ll clarify the meaning of ‘forensic’, and then look at what ‘righteousness’ means in the forensic setting. To recap This post assumes that…
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Funeral Message for Angela Janice Richards, aged 1½
On Tuesday 14th July at 11am, I had the sad privilege of speaking the message at the funeral for my 1½-year old niece. The funeral was held at Kurrajong Anglican Church. Angela (1 November, 2007 – 9 July, 2009) had been suffering from a serious chromosomal abnormality all her life. You can read some of…
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Improve your biblical word power 1: Righteousness
From the Sola Panel: This post is the first in a series designed to help you to get to know and love some of the important words used in the Bible so that you can be more precise as you seek to know God and talk about him. Comments A couple of initial comments about…
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Learning How to Talk (Ephesians 5:3-20)
Christians have a special way of speaking, that might sound strange to outsiders. Ephesians 5:3-20 tells Christians how to talk. Preached at St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong, on 14 June 2009.
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Watch your language
On the Sola Panel: I was recently reminded of my approaching middle age while teaching a Scripture class to a bunch of 12-year-olds. We were learning about the kings of Israel and Judah. At one point in the lesson, I told them that many of these kings were wicked, and therefore God’s judgement came upon…
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Seow Hebrew vocabulary resources from David Reimer
David Reimer, from Edinburgh, has provided two very helpful resources for students using C. L. Seow’s Textbook A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew. This Vocabulary List contains the entire vocabulary list from Seow, sorted by “alephbet”. A good reference glossary. This Flashcards – Seow Hebrew (Unicode) is my original Hebrew flashcards program with the Hebrew words…
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A key point at which N.T. Wright is just plain wrong
I’m currently reading through Tom Wright’s Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. He writes lucidly and engagingly, with a grand vision and a ready wit. However, it’s been frustrating going. Not only does he appear to be consistently misrepresenting his opponents (which is frustrating enough), he also misrepresents the Bible at a key point. On…
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