The virtuous essence of Anglicanism
"An excellent time in Jordan with the Primates (senior Archbishops) of the worldwide Anglican Communion", tweeted the Archbishop of Canterbury. "A privilege to talk, worship, pray and share. We come…
Theology
Coronavirus: finding meaning in a global pandemic
In disasters, people lose loved ones, relatives and property. Above all, they lose faith – not so much religious faith, but faith in the belief that life has a certain consistency and meaning. The universe suddenly makes no sense: there…
Patriarchal pronouns: if we should stop calling God ‘he’, may we call Satan ‘she’?
The Rev'd Canon Rosie Harper wants to vomit. That's what she wrote in her article 'Toxic masculinity: Why we should stop calling God "he"'. What makes her want to vomit…
Mormons receive prophecy to drop ‘Mormon’ and rebrand as ‘the Church’
It’s good to be a Prophet. You can get things done. Russell Nelson is President of the Mormon church and therefore a Prophet. He had since 1984 been a member…
Steve Chalke: the wrath of God and the experience of Grace
Steve Chalke tweeted about the wrath of God which is apparently often heaped on his head by 'Church people' (as opposed to Christians?), compared to the grace he experiences directly…
Do we need a new public theology?
"There's such a need for good public theology," tweeted Fr Gregory Platten, Vicar of All Saints Church, London, N20. "Increasingly struck by how much theology is written for theologians alone:…
Pope Francis wants to change the Lord’s Prayer (but doesn’t apparently understand it)
It is reported (all over the place) that Pope Francis wants to change the wording of a line in the Lord's Prayer because it is potentially misleading. The troublesome phrase…
Wrestling with Scripture? Is it time to transgender our macho theology?
The Rt Rev'd Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool, posed the question of whether the phrases we use to describe biblical exposition are "too macho". The Rt Rev'd Pete Wilcox, Bishop…
Theresa May did not instruct the CofE to allow gay marriage
'Prime Minister: The Church should "reflect" on allowing gay couples to marry', declares the Telegraph; 'Theresa May Suggests Churches Should Consider Conducting Same-Sex Marriages', says Huffpost UK; 'May: Church should…
Same-sex marriage/blessing confronts Church of England with "a structural flaw of fatal proportions"
We have reached Chapter 5 in the great Anglican sexuality saga: 'Church of England parishes consider first step to break away over sexuality'. It isn't clear what the dénouement…
Tom Daley, gay diving and the ‘Christian Voice’ judgment of God
Tom Daley had already won a bronze medal for his synchronised 10m platform routine with Daniel Goodfellow. He then took first place in the Men's 10m platform preliminaries, and…
Brexit, the Bible and democracy: the judgment of God is the voice of the people
As the dust settles... Perhaps that's a premature denouement. As the winds of Brexit crack their cheeks throughout Europe, and the refiner's fire purges the political parties – if…
TGI Monday: The 'missing years' in the life of Jesus
What about the 'missing years' of Jesus' life which the Bible doesn't tell us about? Where was he? What was he doing? Did he journey to India and train…
Palm Sunday: the Kingdom of God and a new social order
The Kingdom of God was heralded by the Messiah riding a donkey. By reason and provocation, He urged anyone who would fully accept that Kingdom to enter into its…
The Kingdom of God is within you, but it is also a future promise
Where is the Kingdom of God? Does it matter? How can it be both within you and yet still to come? Or has it already come? And if it…
Pentecost evangelism? What is the gospel in an age of religious relativism?
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written to every clergyman and woman in England (all 11,300 of them, which is a lot of stamps), urging them to pray…
Does God still raise up prophets?
Prophecy is the most frequently-mentioned charism in the whole Pauline corpus: the role of the prophets is preeminent (eg 1Thess 5:20; 1Cor 11:4f; Rom 12:6; Eph 2:20; 1Tim 1:18).…
Rain, floods and the judgment of God
Storms, rain, deluge, the worst floods in decades. 'Why does it always rain on me?', sang the Scottish band Travis in 1999. "Is it because I lied when I…
Does God suffer?
There's an awful lot of suffering and badness around. Nasty people do nasty things, and wicked people do worse. There are floods, droughts and earthquakes, which are no-one's fault;…
The social gospel is a legitimate child of evangelism
"I am so tired of hearing this social gospel held up as the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason the Church pushes this social gospel is because by…