Free this week

[karen freeinchristman]

The Church Times :clap:
Due to a postal strike, they've decided to allow free access to all of this weeks issue!

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/index.asp?id=45444

[Naomi4Christ]

Cool!

[norbie]

It seems to be a great paper, thanks for your pointing to it, will look it up more often.

[karen freeinchristman]

Why not try your hand at the caption competition (http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=45618)?
This shows last weeks winner, plus a new photo for this week at the bottom.

[TomUK]

Cheers Karen. I've been meaning to set up a subscription to the Church Times for some time. Think it's my favourite of the CofE papers.

[karen freeinchristman]

Cheers Karen. I've been meaning to set up a subscription to the Church Times for some time. Think it's my favourite of the CofE papers.
I was recently informed that ordinands can get free subscriptions - so I've emailed off to request it. So depending on when you might officially become an ordinand, you might want to wait before paying for a subscription.

[norbie]

I was recently informed that ordinands can get free subscriptions - so I've emailed off to request it. So depending on when you might officially become an ordinand, you might want to wait before paying for a subscription.
Is this paper also sold in Australia?

[TomUK]

Is this paper also sold in Australia?

This is from the subscription section of the site.

Annual subscription rates: UK £65 rest of Europe £81; USA, Canada, Africa, India, £95; Australia, New Zealand, Far East, £108. (Overseas rates are quoted by air; surface-mail is available by request.) For a free sample copy, send your name and address to the marketing department.

Overseas readers can take advantage of our special web-only offer : pay only £65 per year (the UK subscription rate) and receive the entire contents of the CT online, every Friday morning. No more waiting for the copy to arrive by post.


I don't know how long it would take to get to Australia but it's certainly possible to get it delievered. No idea whether any shops will sell it though. My local Christian bookshop certainly does.

[Iosias]

I certainly am not very impressed by this letter:

Evangelical society’s ‘fundamentalist revisionism ’


From the Revd Michael Roberts
Sir, — The Revd George Curry’s concern (Letters, 28 September (http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=45245)) over the activities of the “liberal revisionists” is a trifle disingenuous. When he and I were ordained more than 30 years ago, we both knew that the Church of England was a broad Church.



Having said that, like Mr Curry, I am also concerned at certain liberal tendencies; but they are not the only thing tearing apart the Anglican Church. At least as damaging are the fundamentalist revisionists — I can think of no better term — who are creating considerable polarisation within the Church and among Anglican Evangelicals.



First, they reject the ordination of women, which is hard to do from scripture. Second, they have changed their doctrine of scripture so that it is based on inerrancy, a theory introduced only in the late 19th century, and have then narrowed that down from the sense in which it was held by theologians such as Hodge and Warfield.



As a result, those who do not accept these extreme positions tend to be regarded as liberal, and thus the fundamentalist revisionists almost call for schism. This has resulted in the polarisation of which the controversies over Oak Hill and Wycliffe Hall may be symptomatic.



We also see, however, the fundamentalist revisionism of Church Society and its chairman in their involvement in science teaching in schools. Here they make their revered Bishop J. C. Ryle seem most liberal, as they wish to foist the teaching of a literal six-day creation on to school science lessons. Under the guise of “critical thinking” and the teaching of alternatives, the case is put for this on the Society’s website.



Mr Curry is involved in the misnamed Truth in Science campaign, which was initiated a year ago. It has sent out materials to schools, and provides a website of teaching materials that are scientifically inaccurate. Underlying it all is six-day creationism.

This nonsense gives atheists a field day, and its misrepresentation of science is hardly consistent with holiness teaching.

MICHAEL ROBERTS
The Vicarage, 5 Lancaster Road
Cockerham
Lancaster LA2 0EB

[Iosias]

The letter refered to above is:

The Anglican Clergy Consultation and the Church Society


From the Revd George Curry
Sir, — Although we enjoy Andrew Brown’s weekly review of the press, his comments (21 September (http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/7451PRESS)) about Church Society’s motives should not go unchallenged.



Mr Brown evidently believes that the Times report on a “secret” communion service for clergy and their partners who practise or advocate same-sex sexual activity is a “story that makes an Archbishop look” silly. He should not, however, impute unworthy motives to others. Church Society did not and, for as long as I am its chairman, never will inform its members, the public, or the press of a forthcoming event with the intention of making a person look silly.



As a person, a scholar, a linguist, and an author, the Archbishop of Canterbury has our immense respect. We pray regularly for him. We love him. We also passionately love the Church of which we are both members. It causes us untold grief to see it torn apart by liberal revisionists.



The reason why we are informing people of information that was leaked to us is that we believe that what has been arranged, both the event itself and the circumstances in which it is to be held, raises weighty questions to do with secrecy and holiness.

Our standards of worship and, more especially, scripture require us to walk in the light and to live holy lives. Doing something in secret sits uneasily with the former principle, while indulging in or arguing for sexual activities that contradict the holiness teaching of the Bible and our Church vitiates the second.

These matters are of concern to Anglicans worldwide. Hence the release of information that was passed on to us.

GEORGE CURRY
Chairman, Church Society
Dean Wace House
Rosslyn Road
Watford WD18 0N

[TomUK]

I think both letters make valid points.