(no subject)

[dreamer_easy]

As part of a goal of converting 10% of Sydney to Christianity by 2012, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney is proposing spending half a million dollars on distributing the Gospel of Luke to every family in the city.

I have two questions about this plan: firstly, is this actually an effective way to gain converts, or is it spam? Secondly, what could, say, Anglicare do with half a million bucks?

(Dr Jensen has a point about most people not having read the Bible since childhood - I remember a prepubescent effort of mine to read the entire Good News New Testament, which floundered somewhere in the Acts. I'm curious about why Luke seems to be the gospel of choice for evangelism, so I must have a re-read of it.)

Comments

[outsdr.livejournal.com]

The Old Testament can be a lot of fun to read from the perspective of an adult... especially if the adult is not a christian.

The New Testament has better dialog, but gets too preachy for my tastes.

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Luke is considered the most human and humane of the Gospels, and it contains all the good stories (Nativity, Agony in the Garden, etc).

Personnally, I think this money could be better used. It's not going to work on me.

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

I've just realised we have at least four bibles in the house. Plus a Koran, Bhagavd-Gita (sic), Dianetics, and several books on Wicca. Maybe I should just show them my bookshelf, and they'll go away.

[platypus]

How many people in Sydney have not already heard of Christianity, I wonder?

[endis-ni.livejournal.com]

At Sunday Club (ooh, hear the long-term memory creak!) we were taught that Luke was a Doctor, so was more interested in the human details. That's why he wrote about the Nativity in such detail.

Uh, I instinctively type Doctor with a capital. That's telling!

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Jensen needs to read John Shelby Spong's Reinventing the Gospels. But alas, he won't. The Jensites banned Spong from attending Anglican communion whenever he visits Sydney.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Considering it's just 20 years since all the Protestant churches in Australia arranged to distribute a Good News New Testatment to every house in Australia, which had little impact on the numbers of Christians around, it seems an awful waste.

You'll know these bibles - you'll see them at Op Shops with the Ken Done style cover.

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

iirc, luke's got elements in it that the other gospels haven't, like the nativity and some stories involving mary. the style is also significantly different...the other gospels (esp mark) could be considered a news report, whereas luke is more of a novelisation/tv movie.

and yeah...less spam, more feeding people pls, archb.

[17catherines.livejournal.com]

Luke is the shortest of the gospels. Thus, cheapest to print, and easiest to get people to read.

love

Catherine - lapsed confirmed anglican, among other things

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

Do you happen to know what percentage of Sydney residents currently identify as Christians?

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

I frequently get nauseated when we have to drive by this monstrosity on a regular basis and I try to imagine what insane amount of money it cost to create (personally, I think he looks like the victim of a horrible transporter accident.)

[kitzen-kat.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised they're not using the gospel of Mark. That's the usual choice - more to the point, seems to be easier to teach from, and it's the gospel that used to be used in the intro to Christianity courses at Anglican churches.

I'm not a fan of Dr Jensen and I'm relieved to not be in his archdiocese.

[alawston.livejournal.com]

is this actually an effective way to gain converts, or is it spam?

It could very easily be both. It's definitely spam, but all the dreary Media Buyers I talk to at work (when I'm not on LJ) keep telling me direct marketing is the most effective form of advertising.

Luke the Evangelist

[lynsaurus.livejournal.com]

There's a theory that each of the four gospels arose in response to the needs of a specific early Christian community. According to this theory, Luke was written to evangelize to the Gentiles. That's why the lineage recounted in Luke goes all the way back to Adam. It's also why the shepherds come from Luke: humble beginnings for everybody's savior. I'm skipping over a lot of fun bits, so I hope this is making sense.

Anyway, even if Luke is the most effective evangelist of the four, I still don't think this is the best use of marketing dollars. Strangely, I (an ordained minister with an undergraduate degree in public relations) am not often involved in deciding what *would* be the best use of church marketing dollars. I guess I'm out of the loop.