Saturday 7 September 2013

"Boring Holes in the Bottom of the Church" or Why Liberals might be more Evangelical than Evangelicals... [I hear you choking on your beverages already.]

Having thought a fair bit in recent weeks about how, in our culture, we assume spontaneity = authenticity, two interesting articles appeared on the Think Theology blog yesterday.

Whilst many Evangelicals flaunt their "Biblical fidelity," tacitly mocking the rest, people might actually be exposed to more of the Bible in a liberal anglican worship service than they are in most evangelical ones.

And...

However trendy / relevant you are, you still have a liturgy (that is a form of worship service / meeting or whatever).  The question is, is it any good? Kevin De Young has been thinking aloud.

Finally, my wife stumbled across this article on the Guardian website.  I knew that the bible is a book of symphonic symmetry. Stuff the Da Vinci code, now the data proves it with these lovely infographs.

Source: The Guardian

Source: The Guardian

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I agree that some Evangelicals have lost enthusiasm for scripture readings, but knowing some, enthusiasm is all that's needed. I love that the mainstream church has been reformed by the Charismatic movement in a way that has led to greater authenicity in faithful worship. As for liturgy, the less formality the better in my opinion

Richard Walker said...

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Francis. For me those articles were excellent provocations. I don't think a return to the past necessarily the point.

Anonymous said...

These are some great links! Of course the church has to move forward in history, but in doing so she must be careful to bring with her the best that church history has to offer. I take it you've read "The Lord's Service" by Jeff Meyers?

Chris W

Richard Walker said...

Alas, Chris, I haven't. Could you sum it up in a sentence?

Anonymous said...

I will try my best! "Lord's Day worship should follow the pattern of sacrifice: consecration, confession of sin, sermon, communion and benediction, and be filled with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." You can borrow it from me if you like :)