Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Mr. Andy Underhile: Sign-Worship, Pentecostalists, and Narcissism

 
 
By Mr. Andy Underhile
 
Imagine you are on a trip to the Grand Canyon. All along the highway you have seen distance markers informing you of how many miles are left. You have driven for hours and crossed numerous states. You, your wife and kids have reminded each other for hours of how amazing it is going to be to finally see in person this great wonder of the natural world.

At the last road marker before arriving, you are surprised to see a large crowd standing around the sign, touching it, looking at it from all angles and taking pictures with it. You pull over to get a better look at this strange behavior.

Slowly, it begins to dawn on you: These people aren’t going to the Grand Canyon at all; they are here to see the sign! You try reasoning with a few of them, only to be ridiculed as a skeptic. You explain repeatedly that the sign is not the attraction, but merely a pointer toward it. This doesn’t seem to help. It merely irritates the crowd, which seems to be continuously growing larger.

Your wife nudges you with her elbow and points discreetly at some tables a few yards from the sign. These tables contain all sorts of products promoting the sign. There are books: fiction and non-fiction; there are music CDs and DVDs. There are T-shirts, audio and video sets of lectures, there are knick-knacks and a host of other items all celebrating the wonder, beauty and greatness of the Sign.
 
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