Men and fires are a combination made in heaven. So when Helen said yesterday that she had four bin bags of Post Office rubbish to destroy I could not resist putting down Moltmann and going with her to make a fire. I had only just begun reading The Church in the Power of the Spirit (London, English translation 1977) when she called. But I still have a couple of quotes for you today!

In referring to the crisis that was (and still ...

Depending on what your poison may be, the Church of England’s General Synod starting today could the most interesting or the most boring event in York this weekend. If you’re an Anglican you’ll probably be following quite closely because the whole thorny issue of women bishops is to be discussed and the meetings are held in the context of the gay priest, Jeffrey John, once again being rejected as a potential bishop. T...

It is not a coincidence that those listed as being blessed after the peacemakers are those who are persecuted (Matt 5:10-12). To be a peacemaker in a world that has learned the perverse value of confrontation is no easy task and will surely draw opposition. But in the face of such opposition Jesus is saying that the correct stance to take is to be one of peacemaking.

Today in the west and in the UK especially the...

Today the polling company YouGov have released their findings from a survey on British attitudes towards Islam. Headline figures include the following stats: 58% associate Islam with extremism; 40% do not believe Muslims have a positive impact on society; and 70% believe it is a religion that represses women. Astoundingly some 50% link it with terrorism.

It shouldn’t take us much thinking time to realise how i...

John ‘the rottweiler’ Humphreys showed how difficult it is to break out of the mould this morning as he interviewed the new Home Secretary, Theresa May, on the Today programme. He was pressing her about the Tories’ attitude towards the Human Rights Act and the very different approach they have to it compared to their partners in government, the Lib Dems. Apparently the Tories are very anti while the Lib Dem...

We often look at what one church or even a whole church movement is doing and get excited about their success. They start an Alpha course in a run down estate and see some young single mums start following Jesus, and we think, ‘Great. This is what God is doing these days’. Well, maybe. But what if we – just for a moment – take our eyes off the micro and look at the macro? What if we were to look back acro...

In the previous post from Stuart Murray’s book I emphasised the work of the radical reformers, the Anabaptists. But despite their sterling work Christendom was pretty much untouched by the upheaval of the 16^th century. However, in chapter 7 Murray suggests that the ‘seeds of destruction had been sown’ in that period (page 178). He identifies four factors that have led to the slow death of Christendom since ...

One biblical word that has made a bit of a come back in the past few years is ‘apostolic’. Its current definition seems to include roughly three activities: church planting; works of miracles, especially in healing; and overseeing a number of local churches. As all three can be seen as apostolic ministry in the New Testament then the title/label is carried over from scripture to the present day. The simple me...

Did the Reformation change Christendom? Surprisingly not is Stuart Murray’s answer in chapter 5 of Post-Christendom. Though the Protestant Reformation brought about much needed change to doctrine and many church practices, very little was done as far as the church’s connection to the state is concerned. ‘They refined it, fractured it and shifted the balance of power within it towards the secular a...

Stuart Murray’s description of Christendom in the late Medieval period is scathing: it was ‘monolithic, totalitarian and seemingly impervious to critique’ (Post-Christendom, page 132). And yet there were dissenting voices to be heard all over Europe at this time. That those dissenters faced the wrath of Christendom through suppression and persecution tells us a great deal about what a threat they were deeme...

I see the bishops have been stirring it up again, this time on the issue of allowing civil partnerships to be conducted on religious premises. They’re pushing for a change in the Equality Bill currently before the House of Lords – the one they recently successfully changed on the issue of bringing equal opportunity rights into employment issues in churches. They didn’t like that change as it would have forced...

Bullying and politics seem to go together. Gordon Brown should not feel isolated in his current situation of being fingered as a work-place bully – he is in good company in the Palace of Westminster. The stories about his rage towards colleagues have been around for a long time and those of us who enjoy the political blogoshpere have not been surprised by the latest revelations. Stories about his loyal lieutena...

Two recent announcements made by the Conservative Party reflect how far they too have moved away from traditional and conservative Christian values. Of course, both Labour and the Lib Dems have distanced themselves from social conservatism a long time ago, but the Tories were pretty much signed up members of the ‘keep the UK a Christian country’ until very recently and could be counted on to defend Christian values on issues such as marriage. But as society has changed so have the polit...