thinking honestly about life and faith
It’s now almost 18 months since the tsunami on Samoa which changed my life forever. In these last weeks, as an earthquake devasted Christchurch and now an even bigger earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it all keeps rushing back to … Read More »
Recently I read and greatly enjoyed Gordon MacDonald’s book Who Stole My Church? It’s a good read; very insightful and very relevant to many situations familiar to me and I think to my students.
One of the big influences in my teaching and my theological work has been a passion for life stories, biographies. Jim McClendon’s Biography as Theology has been an inspiration. I’ve found lots of people respond most to life stories as … Read More »
Today’s Gospel reading has an interesting story about a man with a disabled arm. The story presents good news for a man who had some big problems—and some moral challenges for the rest of us!
I follow the online daily prayer offerings from the Irish Jesuits, called Sacred Space. Today there is an invitation to see just how much my life is a gift from God, and I want to affirm this in a number … Read More »
I've been reading the first volume of Hans Küng's memoirs, My Struggle for Freedom. It's a great read, and so fascinating. Küng has been one of my favourite theologians, and to read of some of his own journey as a … Read More »
I'm reading Tom Frame's well researched book on 'unbelief' in Australia called Losing my religion (UNSW Press, 2009). The title is a bit misleading, because it's not at all about Frame losing his religion. The first section is a detailed … Read More »
This week two things have come together in my thinking: I've presented the paper posted yesterday, and amongst other things had many responses, of differing degrees of support or opposition. One disturbing response was the comment that the paper lacked … Read More »
I was invited by the leadership of our Baptist Union to present the keynote paper for a session of Theological Reflection, as part of the process of 're-imagining' our life together as a union of churches. If in fact we … Read More »
'Words, words, words' … a famous line in Shakespeare's Hamlet. When Polonius asks what the young prince is reading, he responds 'Words, words, words'—an answer which is yet no answer at all, intended to rebuff the old man who has … Read More »