We are approaching the 2nd anniversary of the October 7th attacks by Hamas on Israel. Since then, Israel have been involved in an ongoing military attack into Gaza which started as an effort to free the hostages taken but has become more than that, an existential struggle to try and destroy Hamas completely. Here are… Continue reading Approaching October 7th – some reflections on Israel Hamas and antisemitism
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If you don’t like the choice of Archbishop, remember the principles were conceded a long time ago
There are two primary reasons why conservative evangelicals within the Church of England might object to the new Archbishop of Canterbury. They may object due to gender and due to theology Let’s deal with them in turn. The gender issue is the more complex and in fact should be the lesser in importance. It’s important… Continue reading If you don’t like the choice of Archbishop, remember the principles were conceded a long time ago
What the reactions to the new Archbishop do tell us
Readers will be familiar by now with my own take on the change of personnel at the top of the Church of England. I don’t think it was ever going to make much difference because the issues we should have with the CofE go back further and down deeper than individual personalities. If you have… Continue reading What the reactions to the new Archbishop do tell us
Stand with Britain’s Jews because that’s the right thing to do … Not for any other agenda
Yesterday’s terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester was horrific. There have been so many warnings about the increased fear that Jews are experiencing. On Yom Kippur those fears became a reality. This attack didn’t come out of nowhere, as shocking as it was. I’ve written recently about racism and how word, symbols and marches… Continue reading Stand with Britain’s Jews because that’s the right thing to do … Not for any other agenda
Will the new Archbishop be God’s pick for the job?
Rumour has it that the Crown Commission are set to announce their recommendation for the new Archbishop of Canterbury tomorrow (Friday 3rd October). I saw one friend’s comment on this news, it was a prayer that God would make sure the new Archbishop will be God’s pick. That’s a great thing to pray. Indeed, really.,… Continue reading Will the new Archbishop be God’s pick for the job?
How we talk about a possible revival may reveal something of our heart situation
How do you feel when you hear reports of what is being called a “Quiet Revival”? I’m sure there will be a variety of feelings and responses. Some of you will be feeling really excited at the moment because you are the ones seeing young men turning up seemingly out of nowhere. Others may be… Continue reading How we talk about a possible revival may reveal something of our heart situation
Death of the author and murder of the story
Roland Barthes famously talked about “the death of the author”. By this he meant that we shouldn’t waste our time attempting to work out and authors intention when writing. The author’s relationship to the text ends as soon as they have written it. S/he is to all intents and purposes dead to his work and… Continue reading Death of the author and murder of the story
Why I’m not signing the heartbeat (abortion) petition
I was recently sent a link asking me to sign a petition calling for abortion to be outlawed except in some fairly restricted circumstances once a heartbeat is detected. I won’t be signing the petition or encouraging others to and I thought that it might be helpful to flesh out why, not least because abortion… Continue reading Why I’m not signing the heartbeat (abortion) petition
The question concerning flags and marches is not about “do you like the people”?
Andrew Wilson wrote recently on Think Theology about what the flags going up around the country, represent and mean. I think this was a helpful question to start asking and highlighted the challenges of interpreting signs and symbols. I am not convinced that this follow up article by Matthew Hosier was so helpful. Steve Kneale… Continue reading The question concerning flags and marches is not about “do you like the people”?
What do we do about Christian Nationalism in practice?
It’s when you start to talk about the practical implications of Christian Nationalism’s errors that you start to get some pushback. People will happily go along with discussion about its relative merits but I’ve found that the strongest resistance I’ve had has been to my suggestion that churches, networks and national leaders should act, not… Continue reading What do we do about Christian Nationalism in practice?
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