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November 2013

two hands working clay

Two hands of God

Irenaeus (2nd century; prior to classic Trinitarian debates) wrote of the Son and the Holy Spirit as the two hands of God. Eg. Humanity is “formed after the likeness of God, and moulded by His hands, that is, by the Son and Holy Spirit”. (Against Heresies: Book IV; preface). Very often we have two sides

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Pope Francis kisses a suffering man

The Joy of the Gospel

Pope Francis issued an apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, The joy of the Gospel. I advocate that you read the actual text. In some ways this is articulating the shift in tone at the Vatican. His first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, was completing a text started by Pope Benedict XVI. This is his own. This text has

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Videos of note

Image with the above two videos on Matthew’s Gospel for the 21st Century by Revd Dr Fergus King: Download powerpoint to go with the last two videos ps. I disagree with Revd Dr Fergus King’s search for “themes” in the Revised Common Lectionary/Three Year Series. Such “themes” may be able to be constructed onto less than

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Faithfest

Christchurch Faithfest

On Sunday (24 November), the Feast of Christ the King, over 8,000 Roman Catholics of the Christchurch Diocese gathered in one of the few large-gathering-places left in our quake-damaged city to celebrate the Eucharist together. The day included an expo, cultural festival, and an ecumenical choral celebration. Bishop Barry Jones wrote, “Together we will thank

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Advent Resources 2013

Here is a list of resources for Advent. Please, in the comments, add good quality Advent resources, and especially links to online resources. Always good resources collected by Christine Sine. Click here for the 2010 resource for ecumenical worship to begin Advent. Click here for prayers at the Advent Wreath related to the lectionary Sunday

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NT Wright

Wrong about sola scriptura

NT Wright (Anglican bishop, leading New Testament scholar, prolific author) has parked his Trojan Horse firmly inside the Reformation walls. Because he dresses like a local, and talks like a local, few have noticed him wandering freely around the Reformation camp removing one of the most significant weapons from the Reformation armoury: justification by faith

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ad orientem

Priest back to the people

The above image appears to be going viral, being posted by even some of my most sensible friends. So it is worth a moment of reflection. Some people heatedly want a Western return to the priest presiding ad orientem (facing East) rather than the popular versus populum (facing the people). This type of person rejoiced

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