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COVID-19 and the ethics of mask wearing

Regular readers of Faithroot.com will have seen my occasional risk assessment and advice posts concerning COVID-19. In summary, my position through the summer has been that churches should seek to move cautiously towards full re-opening. In the short term this would mean Continuing to allow additional capacity to provide extra space for people to meet… Continue reading COVID-19 and the ethics of mask wearing

COVID – update and thoughts as we look towards autumn and winter

As we move towards September and out of the summer holidays, we want to start looking forward and thinking about the implications of what comes next in terms of COVID. The other day I mentioned that the UK figures were being confused a little by what we are seeing in England and what we are… Continue reading COVID – update and thoughts as we look towards autumn and winter

Marriage at work (3) Submit to one another”

Our understanding of Paul’s instructions to husbands and wives will be influenced by how we understand the phrase hupotessomenoi allelloi Here we have two apparently strong concepts.

How do we disciple children and young people?

There’s been a bit of a discussion on social media about faith in kids and reaching younger generations with the Gospel. First, there is this article by Ian Paul interviewing the CofE’s Youth Evangelism officer. Can the church ever reach young people again? Then there were these tweets by Anthony B Bradley. I must admit… Continue reading How do we disciple children and young people?

Marriage at Work (2) A conversation in context

It may seem obvious to suggest that we should start with context, but despite our best evangelical intentions, there are two temptations which can distract us from this. We might describe them as the temptation to play “Proof Text Trumps” and the temptation to treat all the Household Codes the same.

Marriage at work (1) Introduction

I. 1. Why This Question? This dissertation arises from personal circumstances. Sarah and I both grew up in what might be termed traditional households; dad worked while mum looked after the children and the home. Our own circumstances when we got married were different to what we had experienced growing up; whilst I studied Theology,… Continue reading Marriage at work (1) Introduction

How ‘nice’ are the anti-vax conspiracy theorists?

Did you know that amongst other things, the book of Revelation prophesies the advent of big pharma and the plot by these multi-nationals to take over the world in the face of a global pandemic? Here it is in Revelation 18:23 “all nations were deceived by your pharmacy” There you have it. The big pharmaceutical… Continue reading How ‘nice’ are the anti-vax conspiracy theorists?

Wesley and the slave trade (5) conclusions

In summary, we may conclude that our investigation supports our preliminary thesis. First, that Wesley’s hermeneutic does not fit the template of the so-called Wesleyan Quadrilateral and thus secondly, that his argument does not support a Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic. Before we develop our conclusions further, we need to spell out some limitations which constrain what… Continue reading Wesley and the slave trade (5) conclusions

What our Afghan friends need right now

Yesterday I wrote about where the battle for Afghanistan was lost. I argued that the fate of the Afghan people was sealed at Doha when the US signed a deal with the Taliban. Consider the impact of that. The people knew well what a return of the Taliban would mean: torture, rape, slavery, death. Yet… Continue reading What our Afghan friends need right now

Wesley and the slave trade (4) What does Wesley actually do with Scripture?

In the previous section, we noted three assertions that might be made about Wesley’s use of Scripture in support of a redemptive-movement position. First, that Wesley would be willing to ignore texts if they didn’t fit his overall scheme. Secondly, that he could change his view of Scripture based on experience. Thirdly, that he was… Continue reading Wesley and the slave trade (4) What does Wesley actually do with Scripture?