Francis Macnab

Francis Macnab is minister for life at St Michael's Uniting Church, a congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia in Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia, and a Fellow of the Jesus Seminarcite web |url= http://www.stmichaels.org.au/dr-macnab/about-dr-macnab|title= About Dr Macnab|accessdate=2008-09-26 |author= |date= |work= St Michael's Uniting Church website |publisher= St Michael's Uniting Church] .

Personal

He was born to J D Macnab and Mary Anne Louisa Hughes on 21 June, 1931. He married his wife Sheila in 1958 and they have 3 children, 2 daughters and a son.cite web |url= http://www.crowncontent.com.au/wwnews/20080915-macnab-faith.html |title= Who's Who in the News: Francis Macnab |accessdate=2008-09-27 |author= |date= 2008-09-16|work= Who's Who News Archive |publisher= Crown Content Pty Ltd]

Training and psychological work

He holds degrees from the University of Aberdeen, the University of Melbourne and RMIT in psychology and applied science. including postgraduate study in psychology and group therapy in Aberdeen.cite web |url= http://www.harpercollinsreligious.com.au/authors/profiles/francis_macnab.html|title= Dr Francis Macnab|accessdate=2008-10-10 |author= |date= 2001|work= Authors|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers]

In 1961, Dr Macnab opened the Carinmillar Institute, a clinical psychological centre, the largest in Australia, which is now the largest training body for psychologists and counsellors in the country.

Dr Macnab is also founded and is the director of the Australian Foundation for Aftermath Reactions, which provides trauma treatment and training. He is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society.cite web |url= http://www.psychology.org.au/membership/fellows/ |title= APS Honorary Fellows, Fellows and Life Members |accessdate=2008-09-27 |author= |date= |work= Australian Psychological Society Ltd website|publisher= The Australian Psychological Society Ltd]

Ministry

Following a ministry at Prahran Presbyterian Church from 1961 until 1970, he was made minister of the then Collins Street Congregational Church in 1971. The church became a congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia at its inception in 1977.

Theology

In the 16 September 2008 edition of The Age, Rev Macnab gave an interview announcing the formation of a new religion, saying, "The old faith is in large sections unbelievable. We want to make the new faith more believable, realistic and helpful in terms of the way people live". cite web |url= http://www.theage.com.au/national/new-faith-throws-out-the-ten-commandments-20080915-4h3d.html?page=-1|title= New faith throws out the Ten Commandments |accessdate=2008-09-26 |author= Barney Zwartz |date= 2008-09-16|work= The Age |publisher= Fairfax] cite news |first= Cheryl|last= Hall |title= Controversial clergyman advertises his new faith on billboards.|url= http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/vic/content/2006/s2381797.htm|work= Stateline Victoria|publisher= The Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date= 2008-10-05|accessdate=2008-10-10 ] Rev Macnab described Moses as a mass murderer, Abraham as concocted and Jesus as a Jewish peasant and certainly not God.

The new religion was launched with a $120,000 advertising campaign including posters reading, "The Ten Commandments, one of the most negative documents ever written." and draws from other religions including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.

While Rev Macnab, who is a member of The Jesus Seminar a prominent liberal theological think-tank which approaches the Biblical texts with scepticism, said he was not seeking the support of the Uniting Church there would be people within it who would agree with him while others would resent it.

In response, the Rev Sue Gormann Acting Moderator of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania issued a statement accompanied by a theological response to Rev Macnab from Rev Professor Chris Mostert, Professor Systematic Theology at the Uniting Church Theological Collegecite web |url= http://victas.uca.org.au/main.php?pg=download&id=239857 |title= Statement of Pastoral Concern |accessdate=2008-09-26 |author= Rev Sue Gorman|date= 2008-09-16|work= |format= PDF |publisher=The Uniting Church of Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania] . The resulting statement reads: "The Uniting Church is committed to an understanding of God as the Holy Trinity and to Jesus Christ as Son of God, Saviour and Lord. To describe him as 'just a Jewish peasant' falls very far short of the church's classic statements of belief in him. Similarly, to reduce God to 'a presence beyond ourselves' is a serious under-statement of the church’s belief in the God who is creator, redeemer and perfecter of all things."cite web |url= http://victas.uca.org.au/main.php?pg=download&id=239854|title= A theological response to comments made by Dr Francis Macnab, The Age, 16 September 2008 |accessdate=2008-09-26 |author= Rev Professor Chris Mostert|date= 2008-09-16|work= |format= PDF |publisher=The Uniting Church of Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania]

The Synod of Victoria and Tasmania voted to request St Michael's Uniting Church to remove advertising for its new faith and apologise to Jews, Christians and Muslims for the comments it contained about the Ten Commandments.cite web |url= http://victas.uca.org.au/|title= Remove offensive signs and offer apology, says church|accessdate=2008-09-26 |author= |date= 2008-09-|work= Website of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania|publisher=Uniting Church in Australia]

The Moderator of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Rev Kioa described Dr Macnab's comments challenging the divinity as questioning some of the faith's most basic beliefs. He told the Synod, "The views expressed by Dr Macnab in the media last week discard much of what has been accepted for 2000 years as orthodox Christian belief."cite news |first= Barney|last= Zwartz|title= Gentle rebuke over minister's 'new faith'|url= http://www.theage.com.au/national/gentle-rebuke-over-ministers-new-faith-20080921-4l0o.html|work= The Age|publisher= Fairfax Digital |date= 2008-09-22|accessdate=2008-10-10 ] "It also concerns me that Dr Macnab's expression of a 'new faith' as reported in the media appears to be outside the teachings of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church."

In a interview with Stateline Victoria Dr Macnab replied to criticism saying that he was in agreement with others inside Christianity who, "are asking the traditional church to re-examine and renew their basic thinking about what faith can be, because millions of people do not find the old faith meaningful to their lives." He said he "would expect that kind of reaction from people who take the scriptures far too literally."

The Uniting Church did not move to discipline Dr Macnab because no formal complaint had been received.The Session of Scots' Church, on the opposite side of Russell Street, published a statement in reply defending the Ten Commandments from " [t] he most incredible publicity war... being waged against the historic Christian faith."cite web |url= http://www.scotschurch.com/ten-commandments.htm|title= The Ten Commandments|accessdate=2008-10-10 |last= |first= |date= |work= Scots' Church website|publisher=The Session of Scots' Church] They installed a poster outlining the influence of the Ten Commandments on their Russell Street frontage facing towards St. Michael's. The text reads:

The Ten Commandments: the most positive and influential document ever written
More than 3000 years of history that engender and promote...
*respect for the Divine Creator, which saves us from the arrogance of our humanity as we enjoy and make use of his creation
* respect for the Divine character, which saves us from misplaced trust in the frivolous and transient gods of our age
*respect for the name of God, which teaches us humility and service
*respect for the spiritual nurture of our soul, because we are more than an accident of nature
*respect for family and especially parents
*respect for life, seeking to nurture and value all people, including the weak, the marginalised and the displaced
*respect for our spouse, for the sanctity of marriage and for the value of commitment
*respect for property and the rights of other people, taking nothing to ourselves that is not ours
*respect for the truth, including the value of rational, scientific enquiry as well as the gospel truth about God and his Son Jesus Christ
*respect for personal integrity and the purity of our hearts’ desires

References