One of the incidents in the Olympic opening ceremony that caused most controversy was the decision to create a tableau mimicking Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper and featuring drag queens. The incident was seized upon as offensive to Christian viewers around the world, something that the organisers have since accepted whilst denying that this… Continue reading Offended?
Tag: offence
Reviewing the Stephen Sizer Church Disciplinary Measure Tribunal
Here’s a little further commentary on the Stephen Sizer case with the intent of helping us think about how we best get to the heart of issues. In my initial article, I suggested that those seeking to draw attention to antisemitism with regards to Stephen Sizer seem to have taken a bit of a scatter… Continue reading Reviewing the Stephen Sizer Church Disciplinary Measure Tribunal
On not being weirder than you have to be
One of the perennial discussions amongst Christians is around weirdness. Christians are seen as weird. We don’t fit in with the culture around us. We are often mocked for our peculiarities. Is there anything we can do about that? I would suggest that there are basically three camps in responding, Weird it out This approach… Continue reading On not being weirder than you have to be
You are always saying no to something
I remember someone giving me a bit of advice once to the effect that for every request you say yes to, you should say no to an equivalent request. It’s good advice but I would push it further. The reality that that every time you say yes to something or someone, you are at the… Continue reading You are always saying no to something
Are we the bad guys?
This is in effect the question that Steve Kneale raises in his blog post on the original sin debate. He argues that Christians are in effect “mud.” We are no longer seen as the good guys, perhaps with some quirky ideas and practices but at least offering a little bit of light and love to… Continue reading Are we the bad guys?
Onward Christian Soldiers?
Remember the guy tweeting about Afghan and the Taliban the other day? Well, here’s another tweet from him.
Be careful with your offence
When Steve Chalke infamously used his punchline comparing Penal Substitution to “cosmic child abuse” a lot of people picked up on how offensive this was towards God. I think Chalke’s defence would be that it could not be offensive to God because the God he believed in had not punished his son on our behalf… Continue reading Be careful with your offence
The offence of the cross should be enough offence for us
Did you see the news reports about he woman at Hyde Park speakers corner who was stabbed by a Muslim? Initially it was presented as a faith issue. Christian brings the Gospel in words, Muslim responds with violence. Did you see the further detail? Yes the confrontation was around Christians and Muslims but no it… Continue reading The offence of the cross should be enough offence for us
The crucial point about the Chaplain’s sermon on gender and sexuality
You may have seen this article in the news, it’s about a school chaplain who has been sacked following a talk in which he told pupils that they should not be forced to accept LGBT ideology. I want you to notice a couple of things here. That he did not question the right of LGBTQ… Continue reading The crucial point about the Chaplain’s sermon on gender and sexuality
Scandalised
One of the really sad things about recent abuse scandals in the church is the way they mirror some of the horrific things we see in the world around us. We should be able to respond and to offer something that is beautifully counter cultural. Yet instead, we are seen to ape some of the… Continue reading Scandalised
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