Each Sunday, Anglicans gather to hear God’s Word read out loud according to a set schedule of readings called the lectionary. The first reading typically comes from the Old Testament, followed by a Psalm. A second reading, usually drawn from a New Testament epistle, follows the Psalm, and the readings culminate in a selection from…
Sola Scriptura: Why the Bible is Our Highest Authority
Sola Scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible is the highest authority in matters of faith and morals. The phrase is Latin for “scripture alone” and indicates that scripture is the final authority to which we can appeal in matters of the faith.
The Bible: Believing God’s Word Written (Jerusalem Declaration 2.1)
Clause 2 has two sentences. Taken together, they capture the twofold dynamic of the Bible, moving from God’s gracious self-revelation to our thankful response.
Feasting on God’s Word in the Wilderness
Have you ever needed to hear something over and over again for it to stick? Probably something a parent or your spouse reminded you of countless times before you realized it was, after all, the best thing for you? When my dad was a teenager, he was pretty rebellious, he told me. He didn’t rebel…
What is the Apocrypha, and Why Should You Read It?
This is the first part of Dr. Noll’s series, “Reading and Enjoying the Apocrypha.” It is hard enough to pronounce or spell Apocrypha, so why should you want to read it? Good question, and one I plan to answer in this series of articles. Did you know that the Apocrypha is part of the Bible?…
A New Generation of Anglicans
Today there is a new generation of Anglicans joining the Church. Through my work on the Word & Table podcast, and with Saint Paul’s House of Formation, I have had the privilege of meeting and speaking with many. In my experience, the majority of these converts are millennials from evangelical protestant traditions. Over the last…
The Bible in the Book of Common Prayer
Since its inception in 1549, the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) has remained intertwined with the Bible. Many prayers use phrases extracted from the Bible. The Prayer Book quotes the Bible are quoted directly (for example, Opening Sentences in the Daily Office and Offertory Sentences in the Eucharist service). Whole passages of the Bible exist…
Lessons in Omission: Why Are Some Chapters Missing in the Daily Office Lectionary?
Many folks accustomed to reading Bible-in-a-year plans delight to find that the Book of Common Prayer (2019) includes a Daily Office lectionary that leads the faithful Anglican to read through the whole Bible in a year—at least most of it. Those same folks are sometimes a little dismayed to find that several books are missing…
Reading the Bible with the Caroline Divines: 4 Homiletical Takeaways
In the shadows cast by the early English reformers (such as Cramner and Hooker) on the one side, and the giants of Anglican theology since the 18th century on the other, sits the rich trove of Anglican theologians and devotional writers known collectively as the Caroline Divines. “Caroline” (derived from the Latin version of the…
What Does the Bible Say about Justice? 5 Things to Remember
This is an incredibly important time for the community of Jesus as our nation grapples with the injustice of racial inequality. An unavoidable light is now shining on the systemic oppression and racism that has plagued the history of our country from its inception. The complicity of large swathes of the American church on issues…
Reading Scripture During Lent
Despite its focus on repentance, Lent is no exception to the gracious focus of all Scripture—Jesus Christ himself. Scripture is always about redemption. How should we read Scripture in Lent? Before we look at that question, we have to lift a few burdens. Having lifted those burdens, we can be free to engage with the…
The Bible: Walking in God’s Word (Jerusalem Declaration 2.2)
The Jerusalem Declaration offers a set of principles to guide us in our Christian walk, as outlined in the second sentence of Clause 2: “The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.”