A Christian philosophy of science
This installment of "Christian philosophy in diagrams" outlines the relationship between what is unique and what is universal, as a way of seeing scientific thinking in the light of the word of God.
September 2017
Listening in relationship
Concluding his 3-part series on listening, Bruno Medeiros examines the communal context in which the Parable of the Sower comes to have transformative meaning for attentive disciples.
Christian postgrad groups in action: Oxford Graduate Christian Forum
Oxford's Graduate Christian Forum welcomes visitors - and makes its lecture recordings available online.
Jehoshaphat, Jihadists and Evil
Last night I delivered my presentation on Mafia and the Problem of Evil to about thirty members of the evening fellowship at St Peter's in Harrogate.
At TFN we are committed to giving Christians an opportunity to think through challenging and difficult topics. Almost every day we hear about atrocities perpetrated by IS jihadists etc. How do we make sense of these terrifying stories? In my presentation I try to help sixth formers (RB in schools) to understand five ways of looking at evil and atrocity.
1) Evil is caused by bad karma (Hinduism)
The gospel, the fakir and the bed of nails
An Indian fakir had been living on a bed of spikes for 18 months. Why was he doing this?
The desperate man said this: "I worship God in this way but I confess that the pricks of these spikes are not so bad as the pain I get from my sins and evil desires. My object is to crush the desires of self that I may gain salvation."
There are four ways of looking at this self-torturing fakir.
Some say: "Get off the bed of spikes and lie down on this Bonaparte French bed worth £2,700."
Jesus, virtue and the university
Joanna Collicutt's expertise in psychology and theology helps us consider how we can display a Christ-like character in the university.