Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring the bells of Easter Day over land, over sea, over all the earth. Bring the clang of nature’s joy up from earth, to the skies, midst the furthest stars: ‘Christ is Risen from the tomb’ sounds the call of the tow’rs to the rising gulls. ‘He is Risen, death is … Continue Reading
Quarrels about words? In my years involved in dialogue and debate relating to sexuality, some of the most depressing moments have been when those who broadly share my views concerning biblical and church teaching speak and act in ways that I find really unhelpful, even damaging, and impossible to support. Reading the Pastoral Statement on … Continue Reading
If you’ve ever heard a sermon on the book of Job, it’s likely that the preacher will have criticised the protagonist’s friends. In the opening chapters, Job’s life is decimated. His children die, all of his property (and therefore security) is taken away and he is afflicted with physical illness. His friends arrive and almost … Continue Reading
This essay might well begin with, ‘Have you heard the one about the Scottish Episcopalian and the Scottish Presbyterian?’ Last year Richard Holloway, our Scottish Episcopalian, had his book entitled Stories We Tell Ourselves: Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe published.[i] The book recounts how he came to have doubts about his Christian faith, doubts … Continue Reading
As I write this we are drawing to the end of the season of Advent where those who use the revised common lectionary (the set of readings used by the Church of England and many other liturgical churches) will encounter readings featuring the traditional themes of Advent; heaven, hell, final judgement and the second coming. … Continue Reading
The phrase “Electoral College” has been much discussed recently around the election of the new President of the United States of America. An older “Electoral College,” the Papal Conclave of the College of Cardinals, meets in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican whenever a new pope is to be elected. In … Continue Reading
As part of its series responding to Living in Love and Faith, Fulcrum is inviting various writers to express their thoughts as a way of nurturing respectful dialogue. Here, Andrew Goddard responds to Jonathan Chaplin’s recent article on the Church of England Evangelical Council’s video ‘The Beautiful Story’. It is hard to believe that it … Continue Reading
Note from the author: For over three years I’ve had the privilege of being a consultant on the Co-Ordinating Group of Living in Love and Faith (LLF) which released its work on 9th November. It’s been a fascinating, often challenging, but overall positive experience. I’ve been asked by Fulcrum to respond to some questions about … Continue Reading
This is the seventh of eight articles exploring the present state of Evangelical theology. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here. Introduction And so we come to our last tribe in the Evangelical country: Pentecostal Revisionist Evangelicals (PRE). Like the Barthian Revisionists, PRE has journeyed out … Continue Reading
This is the sixth of eight articles exploring the present state of Evangelical theology. The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth can be found here, here, here, here and here. Introduction We continue our journey through the vast country of Evangelical theology. We began in the Classical region, the ancestral homelands of much post-war Evangelicalism. There we … Continue Reading