Thoughts on ‘spirituality’

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The current interest in ‘spirituality’ is both salutary and alarming.  It is salutary because in its best forms it challenges not only the prevalent philosophical materialism of the modern world but also the perfunctory corporate exercises of many Christians. It is alarming because, although spirituality is generally regarded as an ‘applause-word’, it is often so ill-defined that it can mask gross error.

A definition of ‘spirituality’ cannot readily be induced from the NT, despite the use by Paul of words translated as ‘spirit’ and ‘spiritual’.…

Marxism, Fascism, and the Occult

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It’s a chilling thought, and one to which secular historians would be unlikely to give much credence.  But it is probable that Marxism, and certain that Fascism, were deeply involved in occult practices.

Take Marx.  In his early teens he was a keen Christian.  Although it cannot be proven that he became involved in a Satanist cult, there was certainly one operating near his home, and his early writings give some indication that he was involved with them. …

Edinburgh Fringe – Best Joke

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Nine judges narrowed it down to a short-list of 27 jokes, and then comedy fans voted for the top ten jokes at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Out of the top ten, my personal favourites are:-

Paddy Lennox – “I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: ‘This could be interesting’.

Jack Whitehall – “I’m sure wherever my dad is; he’s looking down on us.…

Some thoughts on ‘Intelligent Design’

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Although the teleological argument, or ‘argument from design’, for the existence of a Creator has a long history, going back at least as far as William Paley, the ‘Intelligent Design’ (ID) movement is of much more recent development.

In contrast to young-earth creationism, which is willing to privilege the (supposed) teachings of the Bible in questions of origin over against the (supposed) teachings of modern science, ID proponents accept the conventional scientific view on the age and origin of the cosmos, and on evolutionary processes generally, but postulate that direct divine intervention is required not only at the beginning of the process but at particular points during it as well.…

How can God be good if people suffer?

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The difficulty of reconciling belief in an all-powerful and all-loving God with the existence of suffering is notorious.  It is, of course, not merely an intellectual problem but a very real personal and practical problem for us all.

Many thoughtful writers have given help in the matter, and I have always been impressed by the wisdom of John Wenham.  To summarise:-

1.  It is good that man is a free agent, and not a machine. …

Craig, Strobel, Wilson, Denison, and Hitchens debate God’s Existence

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You’ve got to hand it to Christopher Hitchens.  Such is his self-confidence, and perhaps his disdain for the ‘opposition’, that he is prepared to take on all-comers when it comes to debating religion.  Oh, and it must help his book to sell as well.

In March of this year Hitchens took on not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR Christian apologists at the same time.  Of course, he comes out fighting, and if he was feeling a little bruised by the end he is too wily a campaigner to let it show.…

The significance of Christ’s ascension

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John Owen claimed that the mediatorial life of Christ in heaven ‘is not so considered nor so applied as it ought to be’; and again, ‘the darkness of our faith herein is the cause of all our disconsolations and most of our weakness in obedience.’

Owen adds,

‘Most men have only general and confused notions and apprehensions of the present state of Christ with respect unto the church.’

Yet:

‘This assumption of our Lord Jesus Christ into glory, or his glorious reception in heaven, with his state and condition therein, is a principle article of the faith of the church – the great foundation of its hope and consolation in the world…He leads not in heaven a life of mere glory, majesty and blessedness, but a life of office, love and care also.

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The Gospel is about what God has done, not what we do

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In the April 2009 edition of the journal Themelios, D.A. Carson ponders the meaning of the word ‘Gospel’.

We must distinguish between what God has done, Carson argues, and what we must do as a response to that.  But only the first of these can properly called ‘the gospel’.

‘If the gospel is the (good) news about what God has done in Christ Jesus, there is ample place for including under “the gospel” the ways in which the kingdom has dawned and is coming, for tying this kingdom to Jesus’ death and resurrection, for demonstrating that the purpose of what God has done is to reconcile sinners to himself and finally to bring under one head a renovated and transformed new heaven and new earth, for talking about God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, consequent upon Christ’s resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and above all for focusing attention on what Paul (and others—though the language I’m using here reflects Paul) sees as the matter “of first importance”: Christ crucified.

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Is the Old Testament ethical?

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Is the Old Testament Ethical?

Here is an interview with Dr Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House.  With the criticisms of Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion, ch. 7) particularly in mind, Williams gives a cogent series of responses to some of the more difficult and pressing worries that we (whether we are believers or not) may have about the morality of some of the things we find in the Old Testament.

Of course, Williams cannot offer, in the limited time afforded by an interview, a comprehensive set of answers. …

Praying with giants

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I have used the following to guide an evening of prayer.  Much help was derived from members of that remarkable band of Christians who came to be known as ‘the Puritans’.  In particular, some of the prayers and devotions from The Valley of Vision (edited by Arthur Bennett) were adapted and used.

Invocation

Let us lift up our hearts unto God in the heavens.

Let us stir up ourselves to take hold on God, to seek his face, and to give him the glory due unto his name.

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