Tag: Church
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Built together (Ephesians 2:20–22)
Is every church on its own? How are Christian believers connected with other believers with whom we don’t meet regularly: in our region, nation, and world?
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The first thing to say about church (Ephesians 1:22–23)
Here in Ephesians 1:22–23, for the first time in his letter, the apostle Paul uses the word “church”. He’s taken quite some time to get to this point. That might make you think that the church isn’t very important to Paul. But actually, the reverse is true. This is a climactic statement. So far in…
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Teaching and learning in the Bible: An interview with Dr Claire Smith
An interview with Dr Claire Smith, an expert in the language of teaching and learning in the New Testament
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Preaching sermons and leading congregations: what’s the connection? (Exploring some implications)
Paper, audio and video of a conference paper exploring further questions relating to my essay, “Preachers and Leaders”
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Andrew Heard: “A Brief Response to John Dickson’s Response to My Response”
Andrew Heard is the Senior Minister of EV Church. He has responded to John Dickson’s response to his paper engaging with an ongoing discussion over the meaning of the verb “teach” in 1 Timothy 2:12.
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Comments on two blog posts by John Dickson
The commenting feature on John Dickson’s blog is experiencing ongoing technical issues. I have placed my replies to some of his blog posts here.
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Andrew Heard: “Women and ‘teaching’ : What is Paul prohibiting in 1 Timothy 2:12?”
Andrew Heard is the Senior Minister of EV Church and has written a paper engaging with an ongoing discussion over the meaning of the verb “teach” in 1 Timothy 2:12.
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Preachers and Leaders 4: Preaching and congregational leadership today
Now, as then, preaching should be understood as the public component of the speech of a congregational leader to a congregation under his care, by which he ensures that the congregation learns, obeys and holds on to the truth of God’s word. A congregational leader leads his congregation by preaching; conversely, preaching is the key…
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Preachers and Leaders 3: Preaching as congregational leadership: a venerable history
The regular sermon, according to key figures from church history including Chrysostom, Augustine, Calvin, Cranmer and Perkins, is the key means by which shepherd-leaders fulfil their responsibility to ensure that the truth of God’s word is guarded, learned and obeyed among their congregations.
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Preachers and Leaders 2: The speech of shepherd-leaders in the New Testament
In a number of places across the New Testament, we see a certain pattern of congregational leadership. Christian congregations often include certain people who are described as carrying a weighty responsibility. This responsible leadership role is based on and derived from the word of the apostles, which in turn is grounded in the Old Testament…
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Preachers and Leaders 1: A separation of preaching and leadership?
Among the many important issues and questions that have been raised during recent debates about women and preaching, one that has received perhaps too little attention is this: What exactly is this thing we call a ‘sermon’ or ‘preaching’? Preaching is the public component of the speech of a congregational shepherd-leader to the congregation under…
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Preachers and Leaders Preface: The publication history of Hearing Her Voice
This post is an online preface to my essay “Preachers and Leaders”, defending the essay and the book in which it appears against a particular charge relating to the publication history of one of the books which it interacts (*Hearing Her Voice* by John Dickson)
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Book – Women, sermons and the Bible: Essays interacting with John Dickson’s “Hearing Her Voice”
In late December 2012, John Dickson published an eBook in which he presented a novel proposal concerning the Greek term normally translated “teach” (didaskō) in 1 Timothy 2:12. I have had an opportunity to contribute to a book in which various authors interact in depth with Dickson’s proposal, and find it wanting on multiple fronts.
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Hearing her Voice – Some Personal Reflections by Dani Treweek
After my recent interactive book review, it was also worth including these reflections sent to me by Dani Treweek, a friend and colleague involved in Anglican ministry in Sydney. Dani is the Women’s Ministry Trainer and Coordinator at St Matthias Anglican Church, Centennial Park. She joined the St Matthias staff team in 2009 after graduating…
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“Teaching” in the pastoral letters and today: a brief reply
This post is the fourth (and, for the moment, final) instalment in a kind of “interactive book review” of John Dickson’s Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a response to John’s book, entitled “What’s happening to our preaching?” John then wrote a reply entitled “In Defence of Inadequate…
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“In Defence of Inadequate Books on Preaching”: John Dickson replies to my critique of Hearing Her Voice
John Dickson has recently written a book, published as an eBook by American company Zondervan, entitled Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons. Last week on this site, I wrote a response to John’s book entitled “What’s happening to our preaching?” John wanted to provide a substantial reply to my response. He has requested me to post…
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What’s happening to our preaching? A response to John Dickson: Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons
Update (2015): A lot of discussion has occurred since I wrote this review – including a book-length response. See here for a detailed history of the discussion, with links. On Boxing Day 2012,* a series of electronic booklets called “Fresh Perspectives on Women in Ministry” was released by Zondervan. One of these booklets was written by…
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With gratitude for a rich (and ongoing) biblical and theological legacy – Moore College
A short quiz: Which seminary lecturer described his course this way (and when)? the course quickly developed into an introduction to the theology of the Bible as a whole … ‘the church’ as such was subsumed under the wider theme of God’s creative purpose for Adam, his promise to Abraham and his seed, the elect…
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Anglicanism for dummies (and for everyone else)
Don’t let the dusty-sounding title of Ashley Null’s paper, 16th Century Anglican Ecclesiology, put you off. It’s a devotional, deep, rich, concise yet scholarly account of the roots of the Church of England by one of the most well-respected experts in the field. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand this very…
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Jedi masters and the body of Christ
From The Briefing: I’m about to use Yoda as a model for Christian love. If you haven’t seen the Star Wars movies, you’ll probably be mystified by what I’m about to say. This is not the article you’re looking for. Our home group recently spent a few weeks discussing Christian love. We were focusing on…
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The olive tree is not about Gentiles joining Israel (Romans 11:17-24)
A short while ago I wrote a post claiming that Paul doesn’t ever teach that the Gentiles are included in Israel. I said: Gentiles don’t need to be included in Israel. In fact, the opposite is true; we Gentiles are saved by faith in Christ without being included in Israel. That’s one of the apostle…
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Are the Gentiles included in Israel?
Μὴ γένοιτο! No way! Gentiles don’t need to be included in Israel. In fact, the opposite is true; we Gentiles are saved by faith in Christ without being included in Israel. That’s one of the apostle Paul’s big points in Romans and Galatians. We are, of course, included in the promises given to Abraham (Rom…
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The Individual and the Community in Paul
It’s been a concern of mine for some time that a number of New Testament scholars such as Tom Wright take an approach to justification in Paul which subordinates individual issues (such as personal sin, guilt and salvation) to communal concerns. The same is true in some scholarly approaches to Paul’s use of the word…
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The Greatest Expectations
On the Sola Panel: Once I got to church on time, but God arrived 20 minutes late. On the other hand, occasionally I’ve been to church and God didn’t manage to turn up at all. At least, that’s the impression you’d form if you judged by expectations. The times I remember when nobody expected God…
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The Gospel and Ageing
From the Sola Panel What is the most polite way to refer to an old person? Have you noticed how the words we collectively use to refer to old people in the media and in private conversation keep changing? It’s a strange process. We start using a word or phrase, for example, ‘old man’, ‘old…