This is an interesting addition to the Joseph Smith file: a bit of background on John Dee: In the early 1580s the English scholar and magus John Dee undertook an experiment with his “scryer,” who went by the name of Edward Kelley, to try to acquire otherwise inaccessible knowledge by means of invoking and interrogating […]
The Crusades Effect on the Relic Market
And of course the crusades, particularly the fourth, introduced such a flood of relics of all sorts throughout Europe that the Apostles and the early martyrs could be almost omnipresent through their relics duplicated and scattered all over the West. Patrick J. Geary, Furta Sacra, page 24.
Larry Tomczak on the SGM Whitewash
An email revealed today from the co-founder of Sovereign Grace Ministries minced no words with the attempt at whitewashing the behavior of C.J. Mahaney. Tomczak says in part: Addressing the illegal, immoral and documented blackmail plus the reprehensible conduct that shattered our reputation, relationships and family ties (plus our livelihood) was afforded a dismissive SIX […]
The Sociology of the Church
Some unrelated quotes from the book by James Jordan: …the reasons for denominational diversity are deep-seated, complex, and cannot be removed by a wave of a magic wand or anathema. The problem can only be effectively resolved by local communication, cooperation, and prayer. It must be recognized by all parties that there are legitimate strengths […]
Predestination, Policy and Polemic
I have just finished reading Peter White’s book, Predestination, Policy and Polemic, Conflict and consensus in the English Church from the Reformation to the Civil War. It is a masterful summary of the topic throughout a varied landscape of Church politics, belief systems, and changing theologies. …the model of a theological dichotomy between ‘Calvinism’ and […]
The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination
The Times Literary Supplement has had a back and forth going on over the subject, originating in the September 23 review of Gary Macy’s book The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination. The review was written by Bernard Hamilton and says: In this study of the status of women in the Western Church in the period […]
The Anglican Autumn
2011 saw the collapse of governments across the Middle East in a broad move later dubbed the Arab Spring. A major catalyst for this implosion was the strength of people connecting on the internet through Twitter, Facebook and blogs. The medium of the internet exposed these governments to scrutiny that had not previously existed. Leaders […]
The Book of Mormon as Automatic Writing
In his essay, Automaticity and the Dictation of the Book of Mormon, (available here) Scott C. Dunn argues that the Book of Mormon (BOM) is the product of automatic writing. He begins with the example of Helen Cohn Schucman and her three volume “A Course in Miracles” dictated to her by “by an inner voice […]
Vladislav Surkov
The latest issue of the London Review of Books has a fascinating article on someone I had never heard of, but who is a power behind the throne in Russia, his name is Vladislav Surkov. Apparently he wrote a novel called Almost Zero under the pen name of Natan Dubovitsky. The LRB says: The novel […]
The Origins of Women’s Ordination in the Episcopal Church
So how did it all begin? Without going into great detail, we can look at the seventies and the illegal ordinations that happened at that time. The heretic James Pike had previously ordained a woman to the diaconate, but the ball really got rolling in 1974. In the book “Anglican Communion in Crisis”, Miranda Hassett […]