{"id":2481,"date":"2019-05-03T22:04:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T22:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/?p=2481"},"modified":"2019-05-08T00:55:59","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T00:55:59","slug":"an-old-easter-message-is-resurrected-to-the-chagrin-of-anglican-centre-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/2019\/05\/03\/an-old-easter-message-is-resurrected-to-the-chagrin-of-anglican-centre-director\/","title":{"rendered":"An Old Easter Message is Resurrected, to the Chagrin of Anglican Centre Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the heels of the previous article, another case of \u201cresurrection denial\u201d has come to my attention. In January of this year, the former Dean of Perth in Australia, the Very Reverend Dr. John Shepherd, was appointed interim director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, only to face a sudden firestorm of criticism stemming from an Easter message he posted online in 2008. One cheekily worded headline (Eternity News) observed, \u201cChurch Leader Finds Internet Never Forgets\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the message that was \u201cresurrected\u201d (pardon the pun), Dr Shepherd states:<\/p>\n

The Resurrection of Jesus ought not to be seen in physical terms, but as a new spiritual reality. It is important for Christians to be set free from the idea that the Resurrection was an extraordinary physical event which restored to life Jesus\u2019 original earthly body.
\n\u2026
\nJesus\u2019 early followers felt His presence after His death as strongly as if it were a physical presence and incorporated this sense of a resurrection experience into their gospel accounts. But they\u2019re not historical records as we understand them. They are symbolic images of the breaking through of the resurrection spirit into human lives.
\n\u2026
\nJesus lived \u2026 as a transformed spiritual reality.<\/em><\/p>\n

Apparently, this was old news to other Anglicans in his region. A group identifying itself as \u201cSydney Anglicans\u201d noted way back in 2003:<\/p>\n

Dr Shepherd wrote that it was not necessary to believe the Gospel accounts of Jesus appearing to his disciples, that Jesus was physically and literally raised to heaven, or that he will come again \u2018in the form in which he has already been present on earth\u2019.
\nHe also said that there is no need to believe \u201cthere will be a final judgment where the righteous will be accepted into a so-called heaven, and sinners condemned to everlasting damnation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps the senior cleric has changed his mind. To his critics, Dr. Shepherd says, \u201cI have never denied the reality of the empty tomb\u201d. His efforts to distance himself from his earlier comments appear to have been successful. Calls for him to be removed from his position have gone unheeded, and the controversy seems to have evaporated.<\/p>\n

For further reading:<\/p>\n

David Ould, Jan 10, 2029. \u201cNEW HEAD OF ANGLICAN CENTRE IN ROME IS DENIER OF JESUS\u2019 RESURRECTION.\u201d Online at https:\/\/davidould.net\/new-head-of-anglican-centre-in-rome-is-denier-of-jesus-resurrection\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDean of Perth commits heresy in broad daylight\u201d, April 28, 2003. Sydney Anglicans. Online at https:\/\/sydneyanglicans.net\/news\/730a<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cInterim Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome rebuffs \u201cresurrection\u201d criticism\u201d. Jan 15, 2019. Anglican Communion News Service, online at https:\/\/www.anglicannews.org\/news\/2019\/01\/interim-director-of-the-anglican-centre-in-rome-rebuffs-resurrection-criticism.aspx<\/a><\/body><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the heels of the previous article, another case of \u201cresurrection denial\u201d has come to my attention. In January of this year, the former Dean of Perth in Australia, the Very Reverend Dr. John Shepherd, was appointed interim director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, only to face a sudden firestorm of criticism stemming from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1163,1162,12,133,1164],"class_list":["post-2481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-progressive-christianity","tag-anglican-centre-of-rome","tag-david-shephard","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-resurrection","tag-resurrection-denial"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2489,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions\/2489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theundergroundchurch.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}