Where in the World is Chris Tilling Now?

He’s in hot water with his Bishop!

A British priest has apologized for some unholy language on his Facebook page, his bishop says.

Canon Chris Tilling Paul Shackerley, Vicar of the Minster Church of St. George in Doncaster in northern England, raised eyebrows by using the f— word and remarking that “alas, I have religion tomorrow” in some Saturday evening postings.

Peter Burrows, the bishop of Doncaster, met with Tilling Shackerley on Friday and later said the priest regretted the inappropriate language and had removed it.

“Whilst meant in a jocular sense, he recognizes that some of the language was unfitting. He has apologized unreservedly,” Burrows said in a statement posted on the diocesan website. “I have received Chris’s Paul’s letter of apology and have been assured that this will not happen again.”

We tried to warn Chris his potty mouth would get him in trouble one day…

Don’t Be Mad At Indonesians, Lady Gag(alot)- They Were Born This Way…

Born, that is, with a predisposition to reject rancid music badly performed by histrionic whiners.  The real shame is that everyone isn’t born that way.  What a nice place the world would be if everyone had decent tastes in music and a sense of decency.

A show by pop diva Lady Gaga in Indonesia has been cancelled after religious conservatives threatened “chaos” if she entered the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.

“Lady Gaga’s management has considered the situation minute to minute, and with threats if the concert goes ahead, Lady Gaga’s side is calling off the concert,” Minola Sebayang, a lawyer for promoters Big Daddy, told reporters on Sunday.

“This is not only about Lady Gaga’s security, but extends to those who will be watching her,” he added.

Earlier this month Jakarta police refused approval for the show after the hardline Islamic Defenders Front threatened violence if Lady Gaga performed, calling her a “devil’s messenger” who wears only a “bra and panties” on stage.

To be sure- violence is bad.   Rejecting profane nastiness, though, is good.

Related articles

• Lady Gaga Indonesia concert cancelled – BBC News (bbc.co.uk)

It’s So Great Seeing the American Political System At Work…

Not.

The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allows outside groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for a particular issue or even candidate.

Now strategists and donors are going where the money’s going, and growing evidence suggests that this election year — not just on the presidential level, but also for congressional races — will be dominated by superPACs.

Right now, more than 80 percent of the money raised by superPACs has gone to pro-GOP groups. And, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, 80 percent of all the money raised by these groups has come from just 100 individuals — the wealthiest people in America. People like Texas billionaire Harold Simmons.

Don’t bother voting- political offices are for sale and those who spend the most will dictate policy.  America… land of the Almighty Dollar.

Thinking About Calvin on the Anniversary of His Death

John Calvin departed this world on the 27th of May, 1564. Philip Schaff writes

… Calvin spent his last days in almost continual prayer, and in ejaculating comforting sentences of Scripture, mostly from the Psalms. He suffered at times excruciating pains. He was often heard to exclaim: “I mourn as a dove” (Isa. 38:14); “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it” (Ps. 39:9); “Thou bruisest me, O Lord, but it is enough for me that it is thy hand.” His voice was broken by asthma, but his eyes remained bright, and his mind clear and strong to the last. He admitted all who wished to see him, but requested that they should rather pray for him than speak to him.

On the day of his death he spoke with less difficulty. He fell peacefully asleep with the setting sun towards eight o’clock, and entered into the rest of his Lord. “I had just left him,” says Beza, “a little before, and on receiving intimation from the servants, immediately hastened to him with one of the brethren. We found that he had already died, and so very calmly, without any convulsion of his feet or hands, that he did not even fetch a deeper sigh. He had remained perfectly sensible, and was not entirely deprived of utterance to his very last breath. Indeed, he looked much more like one sleeping than dead.”

He had lived fifty-four years, ten months, and seventeen days.

I’ve had reason to mention Calvin a good bit, so here’s a collection of posts for you to enjoy on this [yes, it's already May 27th in Geneva], the anniversary of his death.

Related articles

• John Calvin Responds to Joel Watts (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)

Quote of the Day

“The preacher must make his sermons cut. Our sickle is made on purpose to cut. The Gospel is intended to wound the conscience and go right through to the heart, with the design of separating the soul from sin and self, as the corn is divided from the soil.” ~Charles Spurgeon

‘Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation’, Free!

From our friends at Logos- till Monday night only!

The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel

Eerdmans has sent this new volume for review (thanks!).  I’ll get to it as soon as I’m done with Hebrews.  In the meantime-

In this book William Dever addresses the question that must guide every good historian of ancient Israel: What was life really like in those days?  He presents his answers in a book that is far from a run-of-the-mill “history of Israel.” Writing as an expert archaeologist who is also a secular humanist, Dever relies on archaeological data, over and above the Hebrew Bible, for primary source material. He focuses on the lives of ordinary people in the eighth century B.C.E. – not kings, priests, or prophets – people who left behind rich troves of archaeological information but who are practically invisible in “typical” histories of ancient Israel. Illustrated by photos, maps, charts, site plans, and specially commissioned drawings, Dever’s work brings vividly to life a world too long buried beneath dusty texts and stony landscapes.

My take, when finished, will appear here.

Related articles

• William Dever on his New Volume, ‘The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel’ (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• Bill Dever in Melbourne (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)

Must Have Hit a Nerve…

From the Dean-

and

Questions for Christian Supporters of Marriage Equality

Simply for the sake of argument, let’s suppose that those who believe Christianity and homosexuality are compatible are able to make a persuasive case based on biblical exegesis (though I clearly hold no such view, let’s pretend it’s possible), I have some questions:

1- In your comments, blog posts, web essays, articles, and emails, why have I yet to see any of you suggest that repentance and conversion are important aspects of the Christian life vis-a-vis homosexuals and homosexuality?  Homosexual behavior is regularly described as acceptable, so why isn’t the need for homosexual Christians to practice repentance?  Further, why are non Christian homosexuals never urged to conversion?

2- If promiscuity is impermissible for the heterosexual Christian, why is it never the subject of your discussions of homosexuals?  Are homosexual Christians held to a different ethical and moral standard than heterosexual Christians?

3- Why is it that the only issue which seems to interest you is ‘marriage equality’ whilst weightier matters such as the evangelism of the unconverted; repentance; faithful discipleship; the study of Scripture; and other like aspects of Christian life never rises to the level of catching your eye?  In other words, why are you willing to discuss marriage equality while ignoring virtually every other aspect of Christian behavior?

4- If you, like some, hold the view that Scripture must sometimes take a back seat to one’s own conscience (an execrably Un-Christian viewpoint, by the way) then what is the base or foundation of your morality?

5- If your Christianity isn’t informed by solid exegesis of Scripture and your theology isn’t informed by Scripture, then what of Christianity remains for you?  Can you consider yourself a Christian if Christian belief isn’t an aspect of your life which is all encompassing?

I await your lucid answers.

The Reconstructed ‘Bethlehem Bulla’

Via Robert Deutsch-

As the first who posted the correct reading of the provenanced fiscal bulla of Beitlehem, and accepted now by all scholars that the IAA experts made another foolish mistake, I am offering now also the drawing (made for me by Pnina Arad), with the suggested missing letters.

by Pnina Arad

Related articles

• Even More on the Bethlehem Bulla (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• That Bulla That ‘Proves’ The Existence of Bethlehem? Not So Fast! (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• Proof that Bethlehem Existed in the First Temple Period (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)