In The Times Brian Davies writes about how Aquinas proves atheists are closer to God than they think.
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about Sister Wendy in Like Rembrandt refusing to paint.
Ian Bradley writes in the Guardian that The linking of Britishness with religious identity could help integration.
Earlier this week, Giles Fraser reviewed the film Apocalypto for the Guardian: A Christian snuff movie that links blood with salvation. He also wrote in the Church Times about The Heath-Robinson route to decline.
Paul Vallely wrote for the Church Times about the recent church scandal in Poland: Know them by their disgrace.
Re GF’s CT article.
A good simple analysis. Trouble is the argument could be that having put the nonsense of
women priests above the wider mission of the church to placate the vociferous internal squabblers, the strategy has failed. The wider world was meant to flock in to this ‘inclusive’ church but the evidence is to the contrary. I am surprised an intelligent commentator like GF scores an own-goal on this one.
I very much appreciated Brian Davies (actually, Dominicans are usually good — as a Benedictine, I must say that this medieval experiment is doing rather well . . . so far) — recently I was reading a book by a Calvinist philosopher & early on he referred to God as an “entity” — so I put the book back — like the atheists who so irritate me, I don’t believe in the bearded invisible cloud being either!
I cannot think of how often I’ve turned up at a church at say 6 pm to find it was on at 4 pm that weekend, and so when there was some doubt I saved my effort. Also Sunday is a day for lying in, and early gatherings don’t attract passing traffic or the half-curious. The opinion section in the Guardian yet again has this anti-secularism and let’s have Britishness attached to Christianity. No let’s not, let all the religions set out their stall on a neutral playing field. By the way, if you think you know what Christianity was… Read more »
You’re right, Aelred, as usual.
James Alison (great theologian and ex-Dominican, as you know!) said it well in his address at JulianFest a couple years ago: that God is more like “nothing” than like “something”.
(That address also appears in his newest book, the name of which I have just forgotten.)
I think Giles Fraser has hit the nail on the head. His example is one that can be seen around the world – complex monthly sequences of particular types of worship. But I think Neil has missed the central point: those who govern the Church and its parishes do tend to be ‘insiders’, and frequently skew their decision making to retain that status. And it frequently has little to do with reaching out and evangelising people who have nothing to do with the Church (yet). In my own experience, I think of a parish that insists on using a variant… Read more »
I enjoyed Bradley’s article. It relates to some of the thinking in Rabbi Lerner’s book “The Left Hand of God”. What I am finding interesting is how the secular state arose to replace feudalism and how the boundaries of theocracy were put in place. But then how scientism became the new cult that detracted from the religious imperatives of core moralities. Many of the debates we are seeing today are to do with finding a core morality that people can agree is for the common good; mitigated by a compassionate understanding that healing often must come from within and can… Read more »
“The wider world was meant to flock in to this ‘inclusive’ church but the evidence is to the contrary.” Erm, no, the issue was whether or not God is calling women to priesthood. The wider world was not the issue at all, but it made good propaganda for those who would get people all worked up. It seems to have worked in your case. You know, this business of Conservatives accusing those who disagree with them of faithlessness is getting really annoying. Can’t you think that maybe, just maybe, those who believe differently than you do are acting from faith… Read more »