Theology

How does facilitating people-traffickers reflect the nature of God?

The Home Secretary's announcement that the thousands of asylum seekers (or economic migrants) crossing the Channel in an endless stream of dinghies (246,190 last year) are to be sent to Rwanda for processing has been a cause of consternation. The…

‘Key limiting factors’: the end of stipendiary parish ministry

July 3, 2021
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Priests are expensive. Church buildings are expensive. Theological formation is expensive. So the Church of England has set out its 'Vision and Strategy' for cost-cutting: 10,000 new lay-led churches over…

Bishop Liverpool Paul Bayes Gender Neutral

Bishop of Liverpool seeks to expunge male and female from marriage

June 30, 2021
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"I want to see a gender-neutral marriage canon, such as they have in the Episcopal Church or in the Scottish Episcopal Church," said the Rt Rev'd Paul Bayes, Bishop of…

bishop of reading olivia graham heresy god evolution

Bishop of Reading: ‘Evolution is God incarnate; the whole earth is God’s body’

October 13, 2020
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The Rt Rev'd Olivia Graham, Bishop of Reading, has been reading a book. Perhaps she has been reading two or three. Her subject is Creation and Incarnation; her passion is…

Canon Simon Butler responds to Archbishop Cranmer & Fr Marcus Walker

April 22, 2020
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This is a guest post from Canon Simon Butler, vicar of St Mary's, Battersea. ____________ I’m grateful for being given a right of reply to the article about an exchange…

Rev’d Marcus Walker returns to his pulpit: “Here I stand!”

April 20, 2020
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"We are back!" exclaims the Facebook page of Saint Bartholomew the Great, London's oldest extant church, founded in 1123 as an Augustinian Priory and which, they say, "has been in…

Patriarchal pronouns: if we should stop calling God ‘he’, may we call Satan ‘she’?

October 10, 2018
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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…

No, Ruth Davidson: the burqa is a world away from a crucifix

August 10, 2018
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Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson is of the view that a Muslim wearing a burqa is no different from a Christian who wears a crucifix. She said: "If you use…

How Bishop George Bell became a victim of Church of England ‘spin’ and a narrative of ‘decisive leadership’

November 17, 2017
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This is a guest post by The Very Rev’d Professor Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. _______ Some may begin to wonder how exactly the Church of England’s National…

Wrestling with Scripture? Is it time to transgender our macho theology?

October 2, 2017
224 Comments

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…

Welby says Islamism is everything to do with Islam, and Muslim leaders must take responsibility

June 6, 2017
272 Comments

The Archbishop of Canterbury has boldly gone where other other religious leaders fear to tread, and politicians daren't hardly ever go. Cutting straight across the liturgical denials of those who…

Justin Welby is not a heretic, he’s a very faithful Anglican

May 15, 2017
310 Comments

In the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Westminster there is a list of Archbishops of Canterbury which chronicles the centuries of communion between the popes of Rome and the chief pastors…

Bishop of Sheffield: Martyn Percy asked for bread; Sentamu and Welby give a stone

March 27, 2017
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No doubt there has been a lot of frantic to-ing and fro-ing between the palaces of Bishopthorpe and Lambeth since Philip North felt unable to take up the nomination as…

Bishop of Burnley: CofE’s agenda is set by academia, moneyed elites, and sections of the secular media

December 3, 2016
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The Rt Rev'd Philip North, Bishop of Burnley, decided to celebrate his 50th birthday with a splash in the Church Times, which has become a veritable flash in the Daily…

Martyn Percy: Justin Welby “is preparing the ground for a complete volte-face on human sexuality”

November 15, 2016
141 Comments

Here follows Martyn Percy's response to Adrian Hilton's second letter on 'Renewal & Reform' and the ministry and leadership of Justin Welby. It was a simultaneous exchange with Hilton's third…

Would the appointment of Bishop Martyn Percy offer remedy against Justin Welby’s asserted theological ignorance?

November 14, 2016
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Here follows Adrian Hilton's response to Martyn Percy's second letter on 'Renewal & Reform' (R&R) and the ministry and leadership of Justin Welby: Dear Martyn, Thank you for your letter.…

Martyn Percy: the Church of England is being “reformed by bankers.. theology is ruthlessly excluded.. populism and narcissism are in the ascendancy”

November 11, 2016
207 Comments

Following Martyn Percy's first letter and Adrian Hilton's response, here is Martyn Percy's response to Adrian Hilton's first letter: Dear Adrian, Thanks for your letter, which gave me plenty to…

“Is Justin Welby not showing the world Jesus?”

November 10, 2016
116 Comments

Here follows Adrian Hilton's response to Martyn Percy's first letter: Dear Martyn, Thank you for your letter. I appreciated the account of your conversation with the “senior commentator on religious…

Church of England funerals plummet 30% in a decade

November 2, 2016
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Are people living longer? Are fewer dying? In the decade 2005-2015, the general population increased from 60,210,000 to 64,716,000, so why has the number of Church of England funerals plummeted…

Welby ponders the problem of suffering: “I’m not a good enough theologian”

October 19, 2016
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"How can there be a God when there is so much suffering in the world?" probed broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Vine in discussion with Justin Welby in the Diocese of…