Category Archives: Uncategorized

‘Allos’ and ‘heteros’

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According to Vine, allos and heteros

‘have a difference in meaning, which despite a tendency to be lost, is to be observed in numerous passages. Allos expresses a numerical difference and denotes “another of the same sort;” heteros expresses a qualitative difference and denotes “another of a different sort.” Christ promised to send “another Comforter” (allos, “another like himself,” not heteros), Jn 14:16. Paul says “I see a different (AV,”another”) law,” heteros, a law different from that of the spirit of life (not allos, “a law of the same sort”), Rom 7:23.

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Some recent book reviews

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Craig L. Blomberg, Can we still believe the Bible?. Reviewed (or, rather, noted, by Kevin James Bywater).

Blomberg is a thorough scholar and a clear writer.  He has authored books on a range of topics, including the historical reliability of the Gospels.  In this present volume, he deals with a range of possible objections to the trustworthiness of the Bible, including issues to do with the integrity of the text of the New Testament, the choice of books to include in the canon, the historical nature of biblical narratives, and the question of miracles.…

On eating horses

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It’s become clear that the food we have been putting in our mouths is not everything the label said it was.  Many products sold as containing beef – burgers, cottages pies, lasagne, and so on, have, in fact, contained varying amounts of horse meat.

Although probably not particularly damaging to our health, it’s a major scandal, probably involving international fraud.

One interesting side-light on this whole issue has been raised by food critic Giles Coren.  Writing in The Times, he berated the public for not knowing what is in their food. …

‘The Ten Worst Verses of the Bible’

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I think it was back in 2009 that the Ship of Fools website reported on its poll to find the ‘worst’ (that is to say, the most unpopular) verses of the Bible.

For a supposedly satirical website, the SoF had a surprisingly po faced aim.  They wanted, apparently, to rescue the Bible both from its enemies, who think that it’s a complete pile of rubbish, and some of its friends, who suppose that it’s a ‘textbook of infallible information and unbreakable laws’. …

Top 200 Church Blogs

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Back in September, Kent Shaffer published a list of ‘Top 200 Church Blogs’.

Although based on statistical popularity, questions have been asked about how the short list was drawn up (Shaffer just says that ‘several hundred’ were reviewed for ‘preliminary screening’ but doesn’t explain how these were identified.  It is clear that the list contains many of the best-known blogs, but there is no way of telling how many equally popular blogs have been omitted.

It has been observed that the list features

  • a relatively high proportion of Reformed writers
  • a low number of women
  • a diminishing representation from the ’emerging churches’

‘Walking With Giants’ isn’t anywhere on the list, but then I’ve done very little to publicise this blog.  …

Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’

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Mention of John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments, popularly known as the Book of Martyrs, has often cropped up in my reading.

I was aware that this book chronicled the persecution of English Protestant reformers by Roman Catholics, and that the work exerted a vast (pro-Protestant, anti-Catholic) influence from the time of its first publication in the 16th century right up until the 20th century.

I probably assumed that it was a work of propaganda, and could not be taken seriously as an historical record. …

Halloween and the reinvention of paganism

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There seems to be more fascination with Halloween with each succeeding year.  Much of this is due to simple commercial exploitation.  For many retailers, it is now the third most lucrative event of the year.

But for the increasing numbers of people following the various resurgences of paganism, there is a more serious significance.  According to this BBC article, Samhain is for pagans one of the most important religious festivals, a time when the barriers between the physical world and the spiritual are at their thinnest.…

Was that an apology?

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Those who are in the public eye often find it difficult to back down, to admit that they were wrong, to apologise.

The recent furore involving Pakistan Cricket chief Ijaz Butt is a case in point.

With members of his own team under investigation for allegedly fixing certain on-field events in order to defraud bookies, he declared, in an interview, that talk was rife that England players had been up to the same kinds of tricks. …

The Reformation: tell us the truth

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When the Pope arrived in Scotland a couple of days ago, on the first leg of his state visit to the UK, a welcome speech touched on the Reformation and mentioned the persecution of Catholics by Protestants.  It did not, however, refer to the treatment of Reformers by Catholics.

In a recent article in The Living Church, John Martin notes that in London stand two churches within a mile of one another, each commemorating religious martyrs:-

A plaque in St.

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