Over at the Gospel Coalition, Trevin Wax has warned us against what he calls the Puritan paralysis: that crippling, morbid self-analysis - what Mr Wax calls hyper-introspection - that directs all our spiritual attention toward self and our efforts rather than toward Christ as the object of saving faith, and so cuts the nerve of Christian service as assured saints. He writes:

We must remember that the Reformation generated new questions. The fact is that the Reformers pushed for personal assurance against a background of medieval theology where such was simply not an issue. Reformation theology generated new pastoral questions, questions it was not in its aboriginal form able to answer

We shouldn’t criticize British Reformed writers of the 16th and 17th centuries but rather than invoking dated, unhelpful, and misleading generalizations as if “everyone knows” about “the Puritans” let us speak about “this writer” or “that writer.” That will slow down our writing by making us go back to sources and to distinguish between this one and that one but that’s a good thing.

People were so kind and hospitable and they couldn't be warmer in their welcome. The only thing I can possibly complain about is the amount of cushions you find on your bed. By the time you've moved them off the bed it's nearly time to get up! I nearly put my back out a couple of times lifting them off.

Male violence against women is a real problem in our culture, one the church must address. Our responsibility here is not simply at the level of social justice but at the level of ecclesical justice as well.

VanDoodewaard’s tone is gracious, but she is not tentative in pointing out the sins that often accompany homesickness: grumbling, laziness, bitterness, discontent. And, in a refreshingly counter-cultural perspective, she admonishes readers to “exert yourself in controlling your emotions” (p. 45,) freely acknowledging that how we feel is our responsibility.

All thinking, godly men and women know that it is sinful to own another person and mistreat them for one's own advantage. Yet I think that with God's guidance a better solution could have been found than to purchase "freedom" with 700,000 souls.

So much of this astonishing life was hidden from his son, who was moved by the story the Sunday Telegraph was able to share with him. Bishop Welby did not know, for example, that his father had Jewish ancestry, or an older sister called Peggy. He continues to wonder whether he has secret brothers or sisters.

Jesus Christ has come into the world as the Jewish Messiah, and his own people rejected him and broke covenant with their God. Therefore, the secular state of Israel today may not claim a present divine right to the Land, but they and we should seek a peaceful settlement not based on present divine rights, but on international principles of justice, mercy, and practical feasibility.

Lawrence said there is no turning back, but there is still one huge non-theological elephant in the room: the valuable Lowcountry church properties that dot the landscape. Lawrence has said the congregations that want to leave the diocese are free to leave with properties intact.