Fear vs love

August 10th, 2011

Hell is being discussed lately, as a result of Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Some of the questions people are asking are “Should believers fear Hell – and God?” and “Without the threat of hell, would people be good?” It is good these questions are being asked, but I think they miss the point for […]

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God is a great big alien being

August 7th, 2011

Sometimes I think we forget. We make pronouncements about God. Philosophical ones like whether God lives in time, or whether something is wrong because God says so, or he says so because he knows it is wrong. Theological ones like whether God chooses who will be saved and who will not. Ethical ones like whether […]

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Christians and climate change

August 5th, 2011

Lately I have been pondering two facts: The majority of world climate scientists believe the evidence shows that our climate is changing because of human activity, and, if allowed to continue unchecked, this will have disastrous consequences for hundreds of millions of people. Christians are well represented among those who are unwilling to accept these […]

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Sermons and effective learning

July 30th, 2011

After my last post on Why sermons?, Felicity Dale from Simply Church offered more evidence on effective learning. It merits repeating.

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Why sermons?

July 27th, 2011

The sermon is generally the most important element of Protestant church services, but there are serious doubts about its effectiveness and Biblical basis.

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John Dickson on reasons for belief

July 22nd, 2011

Christians are sometimes accused of holding their beliefs on blind faith and not based on reason. While there may be some justification for this accusation in some cases, is it true generally? On what basis do we form our beliefs?

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Christians and financial fraud

July 17th, 2011

Jesus gave us a high standard for our words, thoughts and actions. None of us can live up to his standard all the time, but most of us try. One area where western christians seem to be tested is financial honesty. And it seems that some of us, including some leaders, are failing the test.

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Back-to-front Bible?

July 11th, 2011

Have you come across people, not believers, who have decided to read the Bible from cover to cover to check it out, only to get discouraged and give up round about the book of Numbers? I know I have. There must be a better way!

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Should christians obey the Old Testament Law?

July 3rd, 2011

Isn’t it a no-brainer? The Bible is inspired from beginning to end, and Jesus said that not even one tiny piece of the Law could pass away. Doesn’t that settle it? Well, it’s not that simple actually – because no-one obeys it, or even attempts to! It is a pious fiction.

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My ecological footprint

June 29th, 2011

If you are reading this, you probably live in an English-speaking western country. And it is no secret that we in the west use a greater amount of the world’s resources than do people in less affluent countries. Is it fair?

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A list of all blog posts, in reverse chronological order, is on the Blog archive page.