Theology
Baptists and Institutions
*Every* human institution will have its own particular ways of valuing something over the instrinsic worth of the humans who (want to)/ belong to it… The institution will value a doctrine/belief, attitude, ritual, tradition, lifestyle, sexual orientation… you name it, and if the individual doesn’t conform, the institution will apply ‘sanctions’… Which is what Baptists […]
Baptist Open Membership
From a Baptist pastor: Greetings all, Having always been a fan of open membership with regards to believers who may not have been baptised by immersion, I’ve had my thinking challenged a bit this year by my church’s stance (closed) and my own preaching and research… BUT… I’m still struggling with the pastoral side of […]
Postmodernism and the Assault on Reason
Philosophical fads and intellectual trends come and go. It sometimes seems that each new one is more bizarre and short-lived that the previous one. This can certainly be said of the twin terrors, postmodernism and deconstructionism, or Po Mo and De Con for short. Many in fact are already speaking of the death of Po […]
Baptist Church Membership
From a pastor-friend: Rowland posed this hypothetical: yours is the only appropriate Christian community in town, and a retired Salvo couple wants to be in full membership. There’s no Quaker or S/Army church for a hundred miles. They love communion, but they believe they’re already baptized ‘in the Spirit’ and don’t need a further baptism […]
Baptism in times of drought
From a pastor-friend: Given that much of the early Church lived in areas lacking in water, the problem is one they already dealt with. Following is an early church text from “the Didache” or “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” – an anonymous work dated somewhere between 70 AD to 150 AD. I scanned it […]
Baptist Open Membership (more)
Nathan: That all makes us “open membership” with regard to the age or mode of baptism, but “closed membership” with regard to the necessity of baptism. I know Rowland Croucher is our foremost proponent of an “open membership” that can include the unbaptised. I disagree with him because I think it creates as many ecumenical […]
The Worst Sins
“It broke my heart. But remember I was a believer. Though I understood the power of the Scriptures they were quoting from, and I did believe in the healing powers of faith, I was seeing it debased and demeaned. But unlike a lot of the people I understood the language. What’s always bothered me about […]
Interview with Richard Rohr
Interview with Richard Rohr on The Religion Report on Radio National. The full transcript can be accessed at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2006/1788767.htm. He says some provocative things about church and ministry. An excerpt follows: Richard Rohr got some flak from readers of his column in the National Catholic Reporter recently when he suggested that few transformations happen in […]
What is the ‘Word of God’?
“The Bible.” Is that a correct answer? Yes. Is it a complete answer? No. Is it the best answer? No. — — Shalom! Rowland Croucher
Should We Believe in Original Sin? The pro case…
Should We Believe in Original Sin? Videtur quod peccatum originale non sit credibile: It would seem that original sin is not believable, and for the following three reasons. First of all, not only is the doctrine intolerably paradoxical, it is never once mentioned, as such, in the Bible, not even where it is taken to […]
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