Last week I started this reflection on the state of the university today by looking at the recent film, “Every Breath You Take.” As I said, “There are many ways one could think about this movie. Clearly, there are implications Read more
As a seminarian in a former life, I was cautioned against being “a quivering mass of availability” (a phrase from American theologian Stanley Hauerwas); but in a congregation, this seemed to be what was most desired from the pastor. Many Read more
What is the place of faith in public life in the UK? Beyond secularism that seeks to relegate faith to the margins, and a ‘Christian Nation’ position that seeks to retain, or even regain Christian public privilege, is there a Read more
We commonly grant nowadays that most of us live in societies that are pluralistic and largely secular. Many places in the West, as a growing number of writers and thinkers have noted, can be called post-Christian. Secular liberalism of one Read more
Kim Kardashian is a potent prophetess for the contemporary pagan worship of Venus. She earns millions serving the goddess of beauty and sex. In 2015 she published a book Selfish, packed with her self-portraits, her very best selfies. A selfie Read more
We’re continuing our series of posts considering the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of the various ‘aspects’ proposed by reformational philosophy. We’ve already considered perspectives of economics, aesthetics, religion, ethics and history; this week I want to consider the lingual Read more
A virus in itself, even Covid-19, doesn’t know what effects it can have in our world. It’s simply part of the natural world, part of the domain of the microbiologists. But when a virus sparks a pandemic, then we’re dealing Read more
As a part of the ‘Why do a PhD?’ series of blogs posts, I thought I’d contribute my own thoughts on the decision to do a doctorate. I must say that I have struggled with this post, because—like most people—I Read more
Steve Bishop writes about his recently-published paper on Kuyper. Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a Dutch statesman, a theologian, a church reformer, a journalist and more. The recent project to translate his work into English has provided a stimulus for renewed interest Read more
Materialism aka consumerism is such a seedy and destructive faith. Consider the story of 15 year old An who was sold by her parents to a brothel in Bangkok in Thailand. She was proud that her earnings allowed her mum Read more