eChurch Blog

It’s time for our dose of psychobabble and as I’m on the theme of all things eschatological, this piece leads on nicely.

Barack Hussein Obama has 18 letters in his name. That’s 6+6+6, or 666. Get it?

Substantial numbers of Americans believe Obama is the Antichrist. One survey in New Jersey found that as many as one in five people believe this theory. Similar numbers of people believe other crazy theories, including that Obama is a Muslim, a foreigner, and a socialist.

The traditional way to disabuse people of false beliefs is to provide them with accurate information. Here’s Obama’s birth certificate, for example. Hundreds of news Web sites have published evidence that Obama was born in the United States, but disbelief persists. Why is this?

….continue reading

Damian Thompson over at the Telegraph has written a fascinating article looking at the potential reaction of some Christians to hypothetical talk of a “Google implant”.

Telegraph – Talk of the ‘Google implant’ will alarm fundamentalist Christians worried about the Mark of the Beast

Well worth a read for all the wrong reasons.

British Religion in Research (BRIN) has alerted us to a new YouGov poll conducted for The Sunday Times on 16-17 September. Representative online sample of 1,984 Britons aged 18 and over.

One of the assertions was:

Aggressive neo-atheism is widespread

Results:

Totally Agree = 23%

Totally Disagree = 37%

Neither Agree nor Disagree = 25&

Don’t Know = 16%

More juicy stats over at BRIN and here is a link to the YouGov results in PDF format:

YouGove Poll Results (PDF)

Because of the recent discovery of potentially habitable exoplanet Gliese 581g, talk of aliens is everywhere across the Christian Interweb.

As I’ve noted previously, few are as prepared for alien contact as the Catholic Church who are preparing theologically and are ready to baptise our first visitors.

Nicked from One Theological Cellist:

As he was visiting his parishioners one Saturday afternoon, a new pastor stopped at one house and found that no one answered the door. It was clear that someone was home, but he knocked repeatedly and no one appeared. Finally he pulled out his card, wrote “Revelation 3:20″ on the back, and left it in the door.

That Sunday he found the card in the collection basket. Below his message someone had written “Genesis 3:10.”

Revelation 3:20 reads, “Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.”

Genesis 3:10 reads, “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked.”

The first is from David of Anglican Samizdat and is rather depressing:

Did you know that more people around the world can identify the golden arches of McDonald’s than the cross of Jesus Christ?

The second is the dictionary definition of the word “Secular”:

Adjective 2. ordained for a diocese

Noun 1. a cleric ordained for a diocese

“Secular” obviously has other meanings, however, if you’re as ignorant as me you’ll have learnt something new.

It’s big news right now that Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders has gone on trial charged with inciting hatred against Muslims.

Archbishop Cranmer has blogged on this and notes the following:

Mr Wilders naturally denies the charges against him, insisting that Islam represents a serious threat to democracy.

and

When a politician sounds the trumpet to warn a continent of the incursion of an antithetical ideology and an oppressive power…

Coincidentally, I recently asked Edmund Standing – whom may be considered somewhat of an expert in all things Islam – the following question:

Are you in general alluding to an exaggeration in relation to the “Islamic threat”? Or is it a real threat that is played down by some?

To which he responded thusly:

Enjoyed the following post by Joel of Unsettled Christianity so thought I’d share it with you:

In today’s age, we are being hit with an onslaught of words and diatribes against ‘corporate religion’ – that belief that we are not saved alone, but saved together. If we are the Church of Jesus Christ, we are a corporate body, placed together, built together in a building, neatly framed, drawn together by the Spirit of the Living God. There is no corporation so effective as the Church – and no corporation which upholds individuality (such as the spiritual gifts) by joining people together as the Church. Yet, many, especially in the Wesleyan Tradition (that covers a lot, by the way) forget the conversation by the Serious Man with John Wesley.

Wesley’s motive never eludes us. In his early manhood, after being greatly affected by Jeremy Taylor’s “Holy Living and Dying” and the “Imitatio Christi,” and by Law’s “Serious Call” and “Christian Perfection,” he met “a serious man,” who said to him, ” Sir, you wish to serve God and go to heaven. Remember you cannot serve Him alone. You must therefore find companions or make them. The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.” He was very confident, this serious man, and Wesley never forgot his message. ” You must find companions or make them. The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.” These words forever sounded in Wesley’s ears, determining his theology, which rejected the stern individualism of Calvin, and fashioning his whole polity, his famous class meetings and generally gregarious methods. (Scribner’s Magazine – Vol 26)

While I might not characterize Calvinism as ‘stern individualism’ (sometimes, just the opposite), what Wesley was experiencing in the Anglican Church of his day was individualism – capitalist individualism – which disturbed him greatly. (For Mr. Wesley, I would suggest that it would be wrong to judge Calvin by his followers just as it is wrong to judge Mr. Wesley by his.) He saw that the Christians were concerned only with themselves, and not with the poor, downtrodden or the sinners.

I like Wesley’s polity and his focus on the small groups. These small groups are not meant to replace the larger corporate experience, but I know that those who make a point of meeting together weekly for prayer, fellowship, etc… are stronger and this strength must carry over to the congregation.

I was struck with this quote which was on the back of a card which I received from a fellow seminarian and a pastor from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I hope it sticks with you as well.

Here’s an Evangelical manifesto I could certainly subscribe to, written by J. R. Daniel Kirk:

Storied Theology – Evangelical manifesto