Cecil the Lion – a lesson in animal theology
A dentist called Walter Palmer has killed a lion called Cecil. Cecil the lion is now dead, and never has the world been so united in grief. Well, perhaps…
Church
Tweeting the truth in love: Justin Welby affirms an unpalatable article of faith
We have a blogging, vlogging and tweeting Archbishop of Canterbury. He's on Flickr, too. Justin Welby has fathomed that the medium is the message: the social network is the evangelion; the soundbite is the beatitude. And if the message…
Justin Welby's "spiritual magpie" plan to save the Church of England (DV)
There’s a fantastic article this weeks' Spectator entitled 'God’s management consultants: the Church of England turns to bankers for salvation'. It’s the sort of piece that is bound to…
"Thatcher Rest In Hell" – Durham Miners' Gala rejoice over Thatcher effigy in coffin
"The Durham Miners' Association has been shocked and saddened at the news last week of the death of three stalwarts of the socialist and labour movement," wrote the Friends…
Welby preaches God, Jesus, sin and salvation to The Times
Journalists who work for The Times have a habit of tearing strips off the Archbishop of Canterbury. One day they berate him for loving big government more than Jesus;…
Does any Labour leadership candidate have something positive to say about Christianity?
Now that the Liberal Democrats have been left to their own devices to elect a new leader, the attention inevitably turns to Labour and their continued attempts to find…
Norman Lamb's tactics prove only Farron deserves to be LibDem leader
By this weekend 61,000 LibDem members should have received their leadership ballot papers. It’s a straight shootout with the prize of either dragging the party back from the precipice…
Cameron's 'One Nation' vision for stronger families is back on track
It was a big 'One Nation' speech yesterday from the Prime Minister. He set out his vision for education and plans for welfare reform while visiting the Ormiston Bolingbroke…
ISIS one year on: Christianity brings hope in the midst of suffering
Exactly one year ago tomorrow, Islamic extremists calling themselves ISIS (/ISIL/Islamic State) seized control of Mosul and its surrounding provinces following the rapid capitulation of the Iraqi military. In the…
Against heresy: if Jesus called God 'Father', who are we to conflate Him with Mary?
'For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist' (2Jn 1:7). The…
Tim Farron 'clarifies' his Christian convictions in pursuit of LibDem leadership
There is no doubt that Christian representation in Parliament came out well in this General Election. A handful of prominent Christians including Simon Hughes, Douglas Alexander and Jim Murphy…
Welby: £3 billion worth of church social action is proof of God's power
Christians are good at telling stories but rubbish with numbers. This was one of the key observations at last night’s Cinnamon Faith Action Audit Report launch which presented the…
An open letter from a disabled Christian to Conservative voters
This is a guest post by Tanya Marlow - a disabled Christian and founder of Compassionate Britain, and author of Coming Back to God When You Feel Empty. She was formerly a lecturer…
This government ignores the advice of churches at its peril
Anyone with any sense who wants to achieve anything in life will know that accountability is crucial. Having some form of moderation to prevent us going off the rails…
Vicar regrets not being able to ban Tories from Communion
This is a guest post by a (necessarily) anonymous priest of the Church of England. _________ Can I be a Christian and a Conservative? A question which, 50 years ago,…
Church "mad as hell" over Tory election victory
The Church in this instance is not the body of believers that comprise the universal Christian Ekklēsia, but the angelic singer called Charlotte, who took to the streets of…
We must fight harder for vulnerable, abused and neglected children
This is a guest post by Dr Krish Kandiah – President of the London School of Theology and founding director of Home for Good, a new fostering and adoption charity.…
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive the politicians who trespass against us
Trust – or more precisely the lack of it – has arguably been the defining theme of this General Election. This was plainly demonstrated during last week’s BBC Question…
Cameron: "As God's children, we are all one big family"
David Cameron did a lot of God yesterday. If you judge by the Daily Mail photo splash, it was mainly about Sikhs, gurdwaras and Vaisakhi. But he also addressed…
BBC 'Kill the Christians' – at last, thank God, but please don't leave it there
As regular readers of His Grace’s blog will be fully aware, the plight of Christians around the world is a subject that is discussed frequently on these pages. I…