thinking honestly about life and faith
There is a parable of Jesus, in which an ‘unclean spirit’ leaves a person, but does not find a new home. It returns, to find its former home lovely and clean—and empty. So it goes to find seven friends, to … Read More »
It will be interesting to see the results of the recent Census of the Australian population. An ever growing number of people are ticking the box for ‘No Religion’. It’s an interesting question just what people mean by that.As indicated … Read More »
I spend my life at meetings. Most of them, I wonder why. Once I knew a person who just loved meetings. He used to arrive so enthusiastic, and he enjoyed the process. I don’t think I have ever been like … Read More »
When you take notice of what is going on around you, in politics, economics, ecology, and in the ways people relate to each other and exploit each other—what choice is there, everybody’s doing it? —and all that, it is so … Read More »
More reflection on Amanda Lohrey’s Quarterly Essay, Voting for Jesus: Christianity and Politics in Australia.My special interest here is in some of the theological ideas, beginning with the idea of a popular Jesus, set free from ‘religion’.In so many ways, … Read More »
I’ve just finished reading the latest Quarterly Essay, called Voting for Jesus: Christianity and Politics in Australia, written by Amanda Lohrey.There is so much that is insightful, disturbing and challenging in this excellently written piece.It begins and ends with discussions … Read More »
I found this quote from the Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana: ‘Music is essentially useless, as life is.’ In its shocking pithy way, this sentence confronts the life-destroying fixation with function, with utility, that pervades almost everything, in our … Read More »
I have continued with George Stroup’s excellent book Before God. (Eerdmans, 2004)I don’t know the author personally, though I have for a long time appreciated his earlier work on narrative theology.In this book, which is exceptionally clearly written and structured, … Read More »
In preparing for class next week, I came across this paragraph in Ernst Käsemann’s golden oldie, Jesus Means Freedom.This paragraph comes at the end of chapter three, which is about a theology of resurrection.The basic message here is a challenge … Read More »
For a long time I have imagined that when God handed out the genes, I was at the end of the queue when it came to the ‘Praise and Worship’ gene.Everywhere I visit the local churches, the emphasis is on … Read More »