The Practical Parson

 With the recent election of a Woman to sit in the seat of St. Augustine at Canterbury; the Anglican world is yet again aflame with the half-a-century old debate on women's ordination.  Having written extensively in previous posts on the matter from a theological and philosophical perspective, which are still unconvincing to those most ardent supporters of women's ordination; it would seem a point of futility to argue the point any further.  However a cleric that I have known made the statement recently, that the ordination of men only, was only a "tradition" of the church; and argued that such could be changed by the church.  Unfortunately, this is not only untrue, but it degrades the very heart and essence of the priestly ministry to a position of non-consequence.  If such a thing were indeed true that the church alone created and could change the dignity and nature of the priesthood by popular acclaim, then the promised salvation and ever-abiding presence tha...

 As an Anglican, it is incumbent upon me to hold to the tradition of the 39 articles of religion.  However one may hold to a tradition, while accepting that this text, which inspired may be; is not beyond reproach nor infallible or inerrant, since only the written Word of God holds that distinction.  As such, it is entirely possible to disagree with and oppose certain aspects of the articles, when they touch upon matters that the articles describe as repugnant to Scripture; which are in fact scripturally evident and proven matters.  Case in point:  Article 22 describes the veneration of relics (in a list of other items) as being "vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."   A rather serious indictment, were it only true.  I would submit, for your consideration; that the preservation and veneration of relics is actually not only scriptural, but that scripture itself contains evidences that...

 In recent months, I have found myself being forced by society to bear witness to an ongoing saga of insanity being played out in the public square.  The debate surrounding the Transgender ideology and its purported rights and privileges have become topic of violence and hatred; truly ironic in light of the fact the people who promote the ideology claim to do everything in the name of "love" and "acceptance".  I have never cared much either way about whether a man or a woman wishes they were the opposite sex, and whether they decided to mutilate their body in order to satisfy that desire for validation; that is entirely within their own right to do so as an adult citizen of the nation in which we live.  However, seeing an increased number of people demanding that children under the age of 12 be subjected to (so-called) "gender-affirming care" in the way of life changing surgeries, puberty blockers, and enough supplemental hormones to damage their brain cel...

  Many Christians in the United States will undoubtedly be aware of a new(er) TV series, which purports to dramatize the life of Christ and his followers.  What most people, even some clergy, do not realize; is the subtle, underlying heresy that this series teaches against the Christian Faith itself.   T he show seems to be focusing not on the nature of the people they are supposed to be portraying; but the laws of physical attraction, in the manner in which they both dress the actors, as well as the focus in cinematography on the eyes and faces of the characters.  This introduces the first heretical idea of the show- depicting Christ as purely human, and as such subject to the attractions and desires of human flesh.   That may be simply reading too much into the way in which they film the series, but when one repeatedly hears comments on the series about "how sexy Jesus is", one must ask if the intent was NOT to depict him thus.  The manner of co...