In this week’s installment of our series of reflections on the various dimensions of the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m briefly considering the question: how has Covid-19 revealed the religious orientation of our lives? I’m taking this phrase ‘religious orientation’ to mean the ways in which our lives, individually and collectively, are shaped and Read more…
I attended an open-air service this weekend, at our local parish church. Our family has moved house recently and we haven’t yet settled into a new church. But this open-air gathering seemed hugely appropriate right now, just after Easter. First of all, this church sits next to a large green Read more…
It’s a rainy day outside and my mind has wandered to puddles. Puddles are commonplace (in England especially!) without much beauty or substance, but they can do one great thing: they can reflect what’s above them. I’ve been pondering distinctiveness in academia lately, asking: how does being a Christian affect Read more…
‘Oh, you’re thinking of doing English at university? You’ll have to be careful about that. A lot of people lose their faith.’ I was seventeen. I had been a Christian for several years, and I had loved books for much longer. I was doing two English A-Levels and thoroughly enjoying Read more…
Last week we considered some of the contributions postgrads can make to their churches. This week, we’re turning the question around: how can churches support the postgraduates in their congregation? The basic answer to this question, I think, is at first sight rather down-to-earth and simple: churches can support their postgraduates Read more…
Recently upon chatting with an older and wiser Christian we got onto the topic of discerning the idols of our culture. He, a pastor from Cambridge, quickly came out with the following: “healthcare and education”. Now, agree with him or not, his answer was telling. He continued by saying that Read more…
Anti-intellectualism in the church has been well documented (Noll 1995) and is still a problem for Christian academics today. It may appear in many guises, but one is what Don Carson calls “blue-collar arrogance”[1]. This is the idea that if you can’t do something practical – so that others can see Read more…