Sex, gender and marriage in the C of E

Jul 8, 2019 by

Sex, gender and marriage in the C of E

by Ian Paul, Psephizo: Near the beginning of each meeting of General Synod, there is a session called Questions, where any member can put any question to any part of the Church. It is often interesting, and sometimes controversial, as it allows members to ask the awkward questions that some might wish to avoid. It is also something of a bellwether, indicating what the tone of the following days will be like. Initial answers to the questions, which are submitted ahead of the Synod, are given in...

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4 Years On, ‘Marriage Equality’ Slogan Still Doesn’t Add Up

Jun 26, 2019 by

4 Years On, ‘Marriage Equality’ Slogan Still Doesn’t Add Up

by Ryan T Anderson, The Daily Signal: Most everyone in America was and is in favor of marriage equality. Most everyone was and is in favor of marriage equality because most everyone wants the law to treat all marriages equally. The debate in the United States in the decade and a half before Obergefell v. Hodges wasn’t about equality. It was about marriage. We disagreed about what marriage is. Of course, “marriage equality” was a great slogan. It fit on a bumper sticker. You could make a red...

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Vatican considers ordaining older married men in remote parts of Amazon

Jun 18, 2019 by

Vatican considers ordaining older married men in remote parts of Amazon

from BBC News: The Vatican has raised the idea of ordaining older married men as priests in the Amazon’s remote areas where there is a shortage of clergy, in what could be a historic shift, the BBC’s religion editor Martin Bashir reports. The issue was raised in detail in Pope Francis’ landmark Encyclical on the Environment – Laudato Si – published in 2015. He wrote that the region was confronting such challenges that it “requires structural and personal...

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Evangelicals to debate constitutional changes

Jun 15, 2019 by

Evangelicals to debate constitutional changes

from CEN: THE EVANGELICAL Group on General Synod (EGGS)is to debate chaining their constitution at Synod in July. Alongside a proclamation about the Atonement of Christ, they will also emphasise that God made people male or female and that marriage is between ‘one man and one woman’. The Chair of EGGS, John Dunnett, told us:“Every now and then Constitutions have to be updated to keep them fit for purpose. EGGS is a member organisation of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) and the...

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Is the Bible clear on marriage…or anything at all?

Jun 5, 2019 by

by Ian Paul, Psephizo: Martyn Percy, Dean of Christchurch, Oxford, has contributed to an ongoing series of posts on the Via Media blog setting out the view that the Bible is not clear in its teaching about marriage—or on anything else for that matter. It is an interesting series, in the sense that it points clearly to the idea that those wanting the Church of England to change its position on same-sex relationships actually are looking for some wholesale changes in the way the Church has...

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Why the Bible is clear about marriage – a response to Martyn Percy

Jun 3, 2019 by

Why the Bible is clear about marriage – a response to Martyn Percy

by Martin Davie: In the latest addition to the ‘Does the Bible really…’ series published on the Via Media. News website on 31 May 2019, Professor Martyn Percy addresses the question ‘Does the Bible really… Give us a clear definition of marriage?’[1] Given that this is the question that his article is supposed to be addressing, it is unfortunate that he never gets around to answering it. In his article he explains why he thinks we should not adopt a ‘fundamentalistic’ approach to the Bible,...

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