Author Archives: admin

Protecting the unborn child

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John Stott is his usual measured self when he speaks and writes on the subject of abortion.  So it is without hyperbole that he urges us to avoid euphemisms, and to speak of things as they really are:-

‘The popular euphemisms make it easier for us to conceal the truth from ourselves. The occupant of the mother’s womb is not a ‘product of conception’ or ‘gametic material’, but an unborn child. Even ‘pregnancy’ tells us not more than that a woman has been ‘impregnated’, whereas the truth in old-fashioned language is that she is ‘with child’.

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Julian of Norwich

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Recently, I attended a Eucharist.  It being the feast day of Julian of Norwich (8th May), some attention was given within the service to this spiritual writer (1342-c1416).

Those who know me, or who are regular readers of my web site will realise that I was slightly out of my comfort zone at this event.  Clearly, we were firmly within the High Church, or Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England.  A crucifix was prominent, as was a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and various other accoutrements of that tradition.…

Open Theism and Quantum Physics

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It is as I suspected: open theists have recruited ideas drawn from quantum physics to support their view that indeterminacy is built into the deep structure of the universe, and that the future is unknowable in all its details, even to God.

From what I had read and heard, I expected the noted scientist/theologian John Polkinghorne would take such a view, and I now find this to be the case.  Open theist Greg Boyd has an article on Scientific Support for the Open View, and quotes Polkinghorne (in Science and Providence) as saying that notions of indeterminacy in physics

…emphasize how different time is from space [and] how seriously we must take its unfolding as a process of genuine becoming.

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Feminist Biblical Interpretation

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The Bible, writes Phyllis Trible, was born and bred in a land of patriarchy, and abounds in male imagery and language.  The interpretation of the Bible, too, has largely been in the hands of men.  Only recently has any critique of this male dominance begun to emerge.

With particular reference to the Hebrew Scriptures, three approaches to the study of women may be identified:-

1.  The case against women

The first approach emphasises the case against women. …

‘Historic’ or ‘historical’ theology?

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An Amazon reviewer of J.I. Packer’s fine book Concise Theology (IVP) complains that the sub-title (‘A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs’)  is misleading, because the book does not deal with the historical development of Christian doctrine.

But Packer does not set out to write a guide to historical theology, but rather historic theology.  And that’s a rather different aim. By ‘historic Christian beliefs’, he means the ‘classic mainstream’ beliefs as set out in the Westminster Confession and similar documents.…

God, evolution, and natural evil

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One of the most significant objections to the theory of evolution is the moral one: if there is an all-wise God, why would he use a process that involves so much waste, suffering and death?

Biology, says, Denis Alexander, is a ‘package deal’. For every ‘plus’ that we might see as positive for life and well-being, there is a ‘minus’. For example: mutations are essential for biodiversity, and yet mutations also cause cancer and genetic diseases.…

Why an atheist says, ‘We must rekindle our religion’

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According to Richard Dawkins, religion is ‘the root of all evil’, and the teaching of religion to children is tantamount to ‘child abuse’.  Not to be outdone, Christopher Hitchens declares that ‘religion poisons everything’.

Now, I do not hold a brief to defend either the truth or the goodness of religion generally.  We must distinguish between what is good, what is neutral, and what is actually evil in religion.

But we should not assume that the blanket condemnation of all religions by Dawkins et al is condoned by all atheists.…

Ruth 1 – Can God be trusted, even in the dark? – sermon notes

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Can God be trusted, even in the dark? When your world has collapsed, and you can see no way of putting it back together again. When God himself seems to have dealt you a very poor deal, and when you cry out “Why?” heaven remains silent. When your faith is sorely tested. Can you – will you – cling to God nevertheless?

This is the very practical problem that I would like to explore with you from Ruth chapter 1.…

N.T. (Tom) Wright to retire as Bishop of Durham

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N.T. (Tom) Wright has announced his intention to retire from the see of Durham at the end of August this year.

In common with a number of previous bishops of Durham, he has sought to combine his scholarly work with his pastoral and other commitments.  Now, at the age of 61, he wants to return to the world of scholarship, complete the various writing projects that are under way, and take a more active role in broacasting.…

What is the gospel?

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The biblical idea of ‘gospel’ has its roots in Isa 40-66, where in the Septuagint translation the Greek word euangelizomai (to bring good news) is used of the message of Jerusalem’s deliverance from bondage and the wider deliverance of the oppressed.

Isa 61:1-2 provided the text for Jesus’ first preaching at Nazareth (Lk 4:17-21), in which he declared the this Scripture had been fulfilled in him.  The ‘gospel of the kingdom’ is elaborated in the parables, which speak of God’s mercy towards the undeserving.…