Two small portable shrines are giving Bible scholars new clues about Israelite religious practices during the time of David and Solomon. They also indicate a pendulum swing in the world of biblical archaeology.

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Listen here sung by the choirs of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester Cathedrals during the Three Choirs Festival [choose Hi or Lo bandwidth]

Dr Tim Stanley in the Daily Telegraph
The other problem is that Americas’ overall belief in God shows no great evidence of decline. What has really fallen isn’t faith but patterns of communal worship. For millions of folks, it is no longer the default to join a church. In fact, giving up your Sunday morning to sit in a cold temple listening to a kazoo band playing Nearer My God To Thee is, for most people, a perverse thing to choose to do. Ergo, it is not enough to get them into the pews by saying, “We’ve driven out the bigots!” ”“ ministers now how to convince the public that church attendance is in their personal interest. And conservatives are better at doing this than liberals because the product they are selling makes a stronger claim for its value to the individual.

Think of faith as operating within a highly competitive marketplace of ideas. Faith is no longer a product that people presume they need and are looking to buy (soap or shoes). Instead it has become a luxury item, or something that they have to be convinced that they might want (a sports car or a puppy). What kind of luxury is more likely to sell? Liberal Christianity is wracked with doubt, ducks strong conclusions and often seems to apologise for its own existence. Its liturgy is a confusing blend of styles and belief systems ”“ just take a look at this colourful consecration of an Episcopalian bishop in Los Angeles. What do these people believe, and how is it relevant to me?

By contrast, the conservative Christian product is a zinger….

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A consultation/discussion paper from William Fittall, General Secretary
2. The House of Bishops will meet on 12 September to reconsider that provision. The possibilities available to the House will be to:
+ Retain clause 5(1)(c)
+ Amend the draft Measure by removing clause 5(1)(c)
+ Amend the draft Measure by replacing clause 5(1)(c) with a different provision.
……
9. The main purpose of this discussion paper is to explore the possible approaches that the House could adopt. Of these it is the one that involves replacing clause 5(1)(c) with a new provision that requires the most innovative thinking at this stage.

10. This paper, therefore, offers and analyses as a basis for discussion – and without commending any of them ”“ five initial possibilities, agreed with Standing Counsel to the Synod, for replacing clause 5(1)(c) with a new provision.

11. The hope is that these possibilities will stimulate further suggestions. At this stage it is more important to have proposals for possible elements of a new provision, and the objectives which they are designed to achieve, than detailed drafting suggestions.

12. Clearly the most important objective will be to identify an approach which can command a wide degree of support. But, above all, since it will form part of a statute, the effect of any new provision must be clear. It must also have a clear rationale, capable of being explained ”“including to the Ecclesiastical Committee of Parliament.

13. So, the starting point needs to be some analysis of what the present clause 5(1)(c), and any replacement of it, add to the rest of the Measure. Any new wording will, in the usual way, need to be agreed by Standing Counsel.

Read it all if you can be bothered and answers on an epostcard by August 24th. Thinking Anglicans have a stab at explaining it all here and there is comment on Anglican Mainstream here

I know these actions will be a source of joy for some and of grief for others. I hope you will not be surprised that I argued against authorization of this rite, and I refer you to my brief remarks from the floor of the House of Bishops posted elsewhere for my theological reasoning. Along with some others I have signed a statement of dissent. I have no plans to authorize use of these liturgical rites in our diocese, which I know is a source of sadness to a number of our members. I know that in difficult times in our church I do not bear the most heavy load. I also know that this conversation will continue in The Episcopal Church, in our diocese, and most significantly in the society in which we live. It is most important that we remain together and not retreat into our separate corners as in times past. I am encouraged to think that we will not do so.

From here

h/t Stand Firm
Bishop Gray has indicated that he will not authorize the use of the liturgy
within the diocese.

From here and there is a news report here. There will be a Diocesan Day on August 11th

With thanks to Jill Woodliff at Lent & Beyond for this call to prayer
Bp Mark Lawrence met with his clergy on 25th July 2012, in regards to the actions of General Convention.

St. Patrick’s Breastplate, pronouns modified

We bind unto the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

We bind this day to them forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for our salvation;
…Please pray it all

One bad jobs report is a blip. Three’s a trend. And the United States has now seen three weak jobs reports in a row. Through the first quarter of 2012, the U.S. economy was creating an average of 226,000 jobs per month. In the second quarter? Just 75,000 jobs per month.

So what can be done about the sputtering economy? Congress could try to pass more stimulus. But Congress is deadlocked ”” Republicans are opposed to further action. That puts the spotlight on the Federal Reserve and Ben Bernanke. Right now, unemployment is falling more slowly than the Fed expected when it issued its forecasts back in April. Here’s the chart, courtesy of the Council on Foreign Relations….

Read it all.

Recent reports of women being coerced into late-term abortions by local officials have thrust China’s population control policy into the spotlight and ignited an outcry among policy advisers and scholars who are seeking to push central officials to fundamentally change or repeal a law that penalizes families for having more than one child. Pressure to alter the policy is building on other fronts as well, as economists say that China’s aging population and dwindling pool of young, cheap labor will be a significant factor in slowing the nation’s economic growth rate.

“An aging working population is resulting in a labor shortage, a less innovative and less energetic economy, and a more difficult path to industrial upgrading,” said He Yafu, a demographics analyst. China’s population of 1.3 billion is the world’s largest, and the central government still seems focused on limiting that number through the one-child policy, Mr. He said. Abolishing the one-child policy, though, might not be enough to bring the birthrate up to a “healthy” level because of other factors, he said.

Read it all and make sure you have perused this earlier article also.

Finally, General Convention approved provisional rites for the blessing of same-sex unions with the permission of the diocesan bishop. As your bishop I do not authorize use of these rites in this diocese. However, I do not make this decision from a posture of condemnation. Many of us have beloved gay and lesbian friends and relatives, and there are many gay and lesbian individuals and couples in our congregations. Their devotion to our Lord is sincere and their ministries enrich our church. I encourage us all to welcome everyone in the Name of the merciful Lord Jesus Christ.

Although I am only newly seated as your bishop, the Holy Spirit has already filled my heart to bursting with love for you. I give thanks to God for each of you and the faith he has poured out to you. I can hardly wait to meet and get to know each and every one of you. Please know that I am always open to hear from you and seek to serve you in any way that I can. In Christ’s love,

Read it all on Page 2

How could anyone attend General Convention, where soaring worship, beautiful music and uplifting preaching marked daily worship, and note only the size of the Presiding Bishop’s crozier? And to pick two pieces of legislation out of more than 400 pieces presented (and then to mischaracterize one of them) is grossly unfair.

At this convention we decided to embark upon significant changes in our Church’s structure, agreed to trial use of a same-sex blessing policy and passed substantive resolutions in a variety of areas of our common life. Failing to address any of these key topics is to have missed the lede.

Read it all.

…as a Christian theologian, I believe that the soundness of theological teaching does indeed manifest itself over the long run. That doesn’t imply that the churches should teach only what has been handed down from long ago; the church has changed its mind, and the church has erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. There is no way to guarantee that you’re not off-base. On the other and, if you adhere to what millennia of the saints have taught and believed, you’re a least somewhat less likely to be found in error than if you decide that you’re going to think it all up on your own, taking as fundamental a set of political and philosophical ideas developed over the last couple hundred years. The Enlightenment wasn’t A Bad Thing, but neither was it the dawning of the messianic era. If there’s something you want to identify with Jesus, or Christianity, then your argument is stronger if you can actually give numerous reasons for making that identification; and the more such reasons that you can provide, the stronger the theological argument. And if you want to repudiate a great deal of what is plausibly associated with Jesus and Christianity, it’s not unreasonable for people to question the extent to which your enterprise is still ”˜Christian’.

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The euro has completely broken down as a workable system and faces collapse with “incalculable economic losses and human suffering” unless there is a drastic change of course, according to a group of leading economists.

Europe is “sleepwalking towards disaster”, according to the 17 experts, who warned that over the past few weeks “the situation in the debtor countries has deteriorated dramatically”.
“The sense of a neverending crisis, with one domino falling after another, must be reversed. The last domino, Spain, is days away from a liquidity crisis,” said the economists. They include two members of Germany’s Council of Economic Experts and leading euro specialists at the London of School of Economics, all euro supporters.

“This dramatic situation is the result of a eurozone system which, as currently constructed, is thoroughly broken. The cause is a systemic failure. It is the responsibility of all European nations that were parties to its flawed design, construction and implementation to contribute to a solution. Absent this collective response, the euro will disintegrate,” they added in a co-signed report for the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

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Douthat rightly acknowledges the social contributions that liberal Christianity has made in the 20th century, from women’s suffrage, to fair labor laws, to civil rights. It has been doing the same for the rights of gays and lesbians. And he cites historian Gary Dorrien in reminding us that leaders of those earlier social movements had “deep grounding in Bible study, family devotions, personal prayer and worship.” The Christianity that is emerging from this time of transition promises to embrace just this holy union””of love of God and service to humanity and the world.

Controversies over social issues and theological conviction will persist. But the hunger is real for a way of being Christian that recognizes that understandings of scripture and church teaching must evolve over time, and that to be a Christian is to have an inquiring mind and a discerning heart.

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O gracious God, we remember before thee this day thy servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that thou wilt pour out upon the leaders of thy Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among thy people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

O Lord, take thou full possession of my heart, raise there thy throne, and command there as thou dost in heaven. Being created by thee, let me live to thee. Being created for thee, let me ever act for thy glory. Being redeemed by thee, let me render to thee what is thine, and let my spirit ever cleave to thee alone; for thy name’s sake.

–John Wesley (1703-1791)

Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean. If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats; it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

–Romans 14:13-23 (my emphasis)

Listen to it all here if you wish [select Lo or High bandwidth]

Earlier generations of liberal Christianity, according to Gary Dorrien at Union Theological Seminary, were led by men who had a “deep grounding in Bible study, family devotions, personal prayer and worship.” Their calls for reform were made in the context of a belief in “a personal transcendent God . . . the divinity of Christ, the need of personal redemption and the importance of Christian missions.”

That’s the liberal Christianity that helped produce the civil rights movement, for example. We owe this tradition a debt.

So what are we – especially we evangelicals – to make of the decline of the mainline churches? Dr. Timothy George, Chairman of the Board here at the Colson Center and Dean at Beeson Divinity School, has written an excellent article about this and we have it for you at BreakPoint.org. He issues a powerful call to spiritual vitality, theological integrity, humilty, and most of all, prayer.

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Unbelief is on the uptick. People who check “None” for their religious affiliation are now nearly one in five Americans (19%), the highest ever documented, according to the Pew Center for the People and the Press.

The rapid rise of Nones ”” including atheists, agnostics and those who say they believe “nothing in particular” ”” defies the usually glacial rate of change in spiritual identity.

Barry Kosmin, co-author of three American Religious Identification Surveys, theorizes why None has become the “default category.” He says, “Young people are resistant to the authority of institutional religion, older people are turned off by the politicization of religion, and people are simply less into theology than ever before.”

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We should be clear, as writers like Paul Rahe have pointed out, that this subjection of Catholicism to the control of the state is being carried out by officials that many of them voted for in great numbers and with enthusiasm. We have not been able to imagine that the Catholic Church in its essential moral teaching would come to be seen as an enemy of democracy and human “rights.” Yet, these new versions of democracy and human “rights” embody positions that diametrically oppose human life, marriage, basic morality, and the nature of transcendence. No one who cannot accept this new version of “rights” will be a member of the new state that has come to exist before our very eyes. The “inversion” of morals is almost complete. It is “sinister.”

As George Rutler remarks, St. Paul would not have been much surprised at this turn of events. There is a “logic” already in place that, if allowed to go further by the continuation of the present regime, will reduce the Catholic presence to a mere shell, perhaps a “remnant,” to recall an Old Testament term. True, there will still be institutions that call themselves “Catholic.” Willingly, they will accept the funds of the state on its own terms. We may even anticipate a situation in which we see two churches calling themselves “catholic,” one accepting government funds and terms, the other, much reduced, not accepting them.

Rutler’s term, “post-comfortable Catholicism” is both a witty and an accurate description of where we are. If this is indeed our “last free election,” we will not be overly surprised if most of us accept it, well, comfortably.

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In a sense, this was probably to expected. Just view the language now used around issues of sexual identity. Whereas gay and lesbian ”” or even just gay ”” was once considered fine it is now necessary to add a whole bunch more of sexual identities.

The simplest is LGBT ”” lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ”” but it is not uncommon to see LGBTTIQ ”” lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirited, intersex, queer and questioning.

Use these terms enough and no longer is it right question why these various groups are being jammed together ”” even though being transgender has nothing to do with being gay and I still have no idea how two spirited became a category. The decision that they are related comes from interest groups and not common sense. And now politicians, journalists and social scientist feel obliged to repeat this litany as if it was the law of the land.

This is nothing to do with liberalism but with group-think.

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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana ordained and welcomed its fourth bishop Sunday in a centuries-old consecration ceremony in St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral
on Rutherford Street.

The Very Reverend Dr. Jacob W. Owensby, installed in January 2009 as the cathedral’s second dean, was elevated by the Most Reverend Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Owensby takes over from the Right Reverend D. Bruce MacPherson, the diocese’s retiring third bishop.

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Spain is heading for a general bailout. It may not happen immediately, but that is what the figures suggest – that sometime in the autumn, maybe sooner, the country will need a full-blown rescue.

It is fiercely denied, of course. The Spanish Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, said “Spain is a solvent country, there will be no bailout… I believe that Spain is a competitive country. We have a trade surplus with the eurozone, we have a very competitive tourism sector”.

Then there are the facts on the ground. The bailout of the Spanish banks – sealed last Friday – lacks conviction. House prices are still falling. Indeed in the second quarter they were declining at the fastest rate since the start of the crisis. The real estate bubble, stoked by the eurozone’s low interest rates, continues to take its toll.

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Holy Father, who hast nourished and strengthened thy Church by the writings of thy servant Thomas a Kempis: Grant that we may learn from him to know what we ought to know, to love what we ought to love, to praise what highly pleaseth thee, and always to seek to know and follow thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

O God, who hast brought life and immortality to light by the gospel, and hast begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: Make us steadfast and immovable in the faith, always abounding in the work of the Lord, who died for our sins and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, world without end.

–James Mountain

None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

–Romans 14:7-9

Greece has fallen behind with its budget cuts and is asking lenders for more time to meet the conditions of the 130 billion euro aid package. But that would require fresh help of up to 50 billion euros, SPIEGEL has learned. Neither Berlin nor the IMF are prepared to make that money available.

Germany and other important international creditors are not prepared to extend further loans to Greece beyond what has already been agreed, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday. In addition, SPIEGEL has learned that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) too has signalled it won’t take part in any additional financing for Greece.

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….Haidt’s view of religion is incomplete. For him, it offers nothing more than an incentive for people to work together. In his view, doctrine is merely post hoc rationalization used to explain religious behavior. And, strangely, he doesn’t include religious ritual among those things capable of inspiring awe in humans, but instead nature, hallucinogenic drugs, and night club raves.

Still, Haidt is unequivocal that societies need all six moral senses. “We evolved to live, trade, and trust within shared moral matrices. When societies lose their grip on individuals, allowing all to do as they please, the result is often a decrease in happiness and an increase in suicide.” Haidt continues, “Societies that forgo ”¦ religion should reflect carefully on what will happen to them over several generations. We don’t really know, because the first atheistic societies have only emerged in Europe in the last few decades. They are the least efficient societies ever known at turning resources (of which they have a lot) into offspring (of which they have few).” As the ultimate prize in Haidt’s evolutionary views, this is a bad thing.

Haidt’s main concern is to explain to liberals that the views of conservative moral thinkers (not Republicans) make a lot of sense. Liberals will continue to fail to attract voters until they expand their moral vision beyond concern for the care or harm of individuals and the free expression of their desires.

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The bottom line is that we at the Advent will do our best to remain true to the teachings of the Bible. That means we’re all sinners; no one person is above another. That also means we cannot bless any sexual activity outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. The Bible is clear about this. If anyone who declares the Bible teaches otherwise, then I wouldn’t doubt his or her sincerity, but I would have to question their training in biblical interpretation. (Again, if you would like an overview of the many passages that deal with sexual morality, let us know by using the aforementioned email or telephone number.) While we love one another and reach out to all sorts and conditions of people, and while homophobia by any person on our staff will not be tolerated, we cannot bless same-sex relationships.

Bishop Sloan knows exactly where we stand. He and I have talked openly about our differences. While we do not agree, he not only “tolerates” the Advent’s position, he accepts and respects our position and sees that we have a legitimate voice within his diocese.

Some of my colleagues have long left The Episcopal Church. We respect their decision. But we do not feel called to leave. We feel called by God to be a faithful witness within, but without being in collusion with flawed theology that lies at the heart of this presenting issue. But the presenting issue shall not sidetrack us. Our preaching and teaching ministry will remain focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bearing witness to the Light. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it” (John 1:5). We will not waver in our conviction. In all that we do, say and think, may God alone be glorified.

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