Tokusan (780 – 865) was a tough and cantankerous Chinese Zen master. He wielded a menacing bamboo stick. His Zen pedagogy was known as ‘Tokusan’s thirty blows’. Tokusan would say to his disciples: “If you speak rightly I will give Read more…
RealityBites’ lively new theatre-in-education project plans to bring Christian perspectives and a focus on worldviews to GCSE and A-Level Philosophy, Ethics and Religious Studies students. Building on the rich resources Mark Roques has developed over many years, we aim to Read more…
A guest post by Victor Morales. Sustainable development has become the main issue at the dawn of this century. It is in the first place an economic term applied to the efficient use of natural resources with an eye on Read more…
You might have heard of the expression ‘touch wood’. It is a popular saying in the UK. It is a relic of tree worship that ruled the roost in pagan times. By touching wood we invoke the protection of a Read more…
About six weeks ago, I had the privilege of chairing one of the series of ‘Feeding the Earth’ webinars hosted by Thinking Faith Network, exploring contemporary research into food security from a ‘values’ perspective. The opening talk, given by Dr Read more…
Does Christian faith make a difference to food and eating? Anyone who reads the Bible will know that the answer is yes – absolutely. But how can knowing Jesus affect studies of agriculture, economics and diet? Over the last month, Read more…
I’ve been thinking a lot about trees recently. I love them. We have some great trees where we live in Horsforth in Leeds. My favourite tree is the Great Boab tree (Oz). What’s yours? We are all aware of how Read more…
News reports in the UK these last few days have commented on the resignation of Lord Geidt, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. Alongside the speculation by columnists, bewilderment about the reason for Lord Geidt’s sudden departure has been expressed by Read more…
This year I have been thinking often about exemplars – figures in history, or fiction, seen as admirable or exemplary in some way. The main reason for this is that I have been moonlighting as the assistant for an Oxford-based Read more…
We now come to the conclusion of our series on Herman Dooyeweerd’s In the Twilight of Western Thought. It is in this final chapter (8) that the full weight of Dooyeweerd’s critique of historicism specifically and Christian attempts to engage in Read more…