Dr Paul Allen

  Martin Luther and Consubstantiation With the publication of The Babylonian Captivity of the Church in 1520, Martin Luther attacked the sacramental system and the eucharistic practices of the Roman Catholic Church. In particular, he addressed three “captivities” to which the church had subjected the Lord’s Supper.  The first captivity was the church’s withholding of the cup from the laity and the administration of communion in one kind. Luther passionately opposed this practice. He emphasized Jesus’ insistence that the cup is drunk by “all” of his disciples. He also dissented logically, reasoning that if the Lord’s Supper is given “to the laity, it inevitably follows that it ought not to be withheld from them in either form.” Most important, Luther focused on the fact that “the blood is given to all those for whose sins it was poured out. But who will dare to say that it was not poured out for the laity?” Finally, Luther questioned why the church, if it concedes that the lai...

The Reformed Church of France, Paris, France (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James  5:16 ). Is corporate confession of sin enough? It is, but it  may not be . It all depends on who's asking. Let me explain.  Corporate confession of sin on the Lord's Day is a glorious, sin-debilitating means of grace. With solemnity, we confess as one body that we have not done the things that we should have done (sins of omission), and have done the things that we should not have done (sins of commission).  Then, with joy, we look away from our past sin and set our gaze on God's faithfulness to His covenant promises in the gracious work of Jesus Christ —His humble entrance into the world, morally-perfect life, wrath-absorbing death for our sins, victorious resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high, where He continually and unfailingly intercedes on ou...

Haberfield, St_Davids_Uniting_Church (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Two Australian denominations have been given reports that reveal decay and a need for change that questions the viability of their current structures. The Anglican Church is painfully aware that its network of dioceses (regions) is not viable following its General Synod (national church parliament) last week, while a recent Uniting Church census also underscores decline. “With 90 per cent of Australia’s population now living within 100km of the coastline and that trend continuing to strengthen, it presents enormous challenges for Australia’s inland dioceses,” says the Viability and Structures Task Force report paper for the Anglican General Synod. For example, the Murray Diocese in South Australia has 1300 people in church attendance; Bunbury in Western Australia has 1600; and the Northern Territory and North West Australia , which did not report their figures, probably have considerably fewer. To support a Bish...