The Main Wycliffe Blog

In a recent post on this blog (September 17), my colleague Peter Robinson set forth a basic explanation of the theological interpretation of Scripture, often referred to as TIS. In that article, he made some crucial points. The theological interpreter approaches the text not from a neutral perspective, but from a standpoint of engagement, honouring Scripture as God’s living Word. She reads the Bible as a coherent story centred on Jesus Christ, a unitary testimony to him—even if the unity is often difficult to discern!—to be read in the company of Christians throughout the ages.

My wife and I live in a small village—a hamlet—in rural France, and as in all the villages around us, we have an ancient parish church, with its strong bells regulating life. The painting “The Angelus” shows peasants with heads lowered in a field. They are our neighbours. We live in the rectory of the village, amidst vast fields, and the bells lift themselves and sound forth just next door.

It began in my childhood home in northwest India. My father was a Canadian Anglican priest who, after serving as a padre during the horrors of the Second World War, went to minister to a leper colony and small Anglican parish in the foothills of the Himalayas. My mother was an Australian Methodist obstetrical nurse from Melbourne. They met in language school, and together they served in northwest India for 15 years before returning to the Diocese of Ottawa. Looking back, I realize I took the Christian practices and ethos of our home completely for granted.

“The soul watered by sacred Scripture grows fat and bears fruit in due season, which is the orthodox faith, and so is it adorned with its evergreen leaves, with actions pleasing to God, I mean.” – John of Damascus (The Orthodox Faith, 4:17) as quoted in Psalms 1–50 by C.A. Blaising and C. S. Hardin.

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I remember a Wycliffe student of several years ago who organized her life so she could be both a student and parent and spouse. She was the mother of two elementary school-aged boys. In the morning she or her husband would drop their sons at their school, then she’d get on the subway and arrive at Wycliffe in time for Morning Prayer. (Morning Prayer is a daily worship service of Scripture, prayer, and song that takes place each weekday at 8:30 a.m.

At Wycliffe’s recent Theology Pub Night on August 30, I was gratified when someone asked me if I was a student at Wycliffe College. I am often mistaken for a younger person, which I think I owe to my genes, but which my wife suspects may also have something to do with my behaviour. The hard-to-believe truth, however, is that this month marks the fortieth year since I began my formal theological training.

“[Wycliffe] College has balanced change with tradition, the building itself reminding faculty, trustees and students alike that they did not start Wycliffe, that each new generation stands on the shoulders of all who have been there before, that to become part of the College is to be received into a historic community, not to form it anew.” – Reginald Stackhouse in The Way Forward: A History of Wycliffe College, Toronto, 1877–2002

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) met in Vancouver for seven days, beginning July 10. This was the 42nd session of a national gathering that happens every three years, and it brought together some 235 delegates from 30 dioceses in the three orders of laity, clergy, and bishops.

As Wycliffe College organizes another trip to Israel, to take place in February 2020, let's recall some of the unforgettable experiences for all the students and friends of Wycliffe who joined the trip last year. They gained historical and biblical insights, met new friends, and ate lots of good food! In this article, Wycliffe student Connie Chan shares about a memorable moment during her trip. If you’d like to join the upcoming trip, visit https://www.wycliffecollege.ca/israel2020

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Turning and turning in the
            widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the
            falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre
            cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed
            upon the world.