A recent article in The Guardian (do read the whole article if you like) concludes, Churches that are theologically conservative with beliefs based on a literal interpretation of the Bible grow faster than those with a liberal orientation, according to a five-year academic study. Let me put some points in dialogue with this realisation: To
Church Growth Through Biblical Literalism? Read More »
I believe in Jesus. I believe in God. I believe in the Tooth Fairy. I believe in Santa Claus. I believe in the Easter Bunny. I believe that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the Sun in an elliptical orbit; the teapot is too small to be revealed even
Let’s Stop Using This Word (1): Believe Read More »
The “Canon of St Vincent” is often quoted (especially the part I have put in bold italics): in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all (Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est). For that is truly and
Believed Everywhere, Always, and by All? Read More »
The agreement from a recent meeting of the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission (AOOIC), Christology – Agreed Statement by the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission, heals the centuries-old split between the Anglican churches within the family of Chalcedonian Churches and the non-Chalcedonian churches over the incarnation of Christ. I highly recommend that you read it. Both families
Anglican and Oriental Orthodox Ecumenism Read More »
On Sunday 25 October, Roman Catholics and Anglicans/Episcopalians again share a common collect. I am working on producing a full set of shared collects for the church year. My work so far can be found here: Book of Prayers in Common. My rendering for this coming Sunday and the week following is: Let us pray
Cherishing what God Commands Read More »
I have only recently become aware of former Seventh-day Adventist pastor, Ryan Bell’s “experiment” of living 2014 as an atheist. He blogged about this at Year Without God. And at the end of the year he found he no longer believed in God. Here’s how it started: For the next 12 months, Bell says he
The Effort of Adding God to Stuff Read More »
Christ Actually: The Son of God for the Secular Age by James Carroll Hardcover: 368 pages I have not yet read this book, so this is less of a review than an expression of my enthusiasm reading an extract on Huffingtonpost (read the full extract there). We need encouragement to move deeper into our incarnation
Anti-theists (also known as hatetheists) are at it again. This time it’s a billboard (image above) that assumes Santa is real but Christmas is just a fairy tale. The billboards are located in Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis, Fort Smith (Arkansas), and Milwaukee. Let me (once again) stress – I have excellent relationships with atheist and
Shhh! Don’t Spoil It For Atheists – Santa Isn’t Real! Read More »
