Category Archives: Faith

I believe in believing in God (A philosophical and theological reflection in 5 parts)  Part 1: But is it true? The more I think about the role of God in my life, the more essential he is. That makes the question of whether he actually exists or not more and more important. This is, ofContinue reading “I believe in believing in God. Part 1”

Christ is risen! Part 4: Join the way. The importance of the crucifixion is that this new attitude to life is not a warm, fluffy day-dream, that can only exist in a fantasy world of niceness, or in the lives of the comfortable with no challenges to face. “Christ is risen” is the acclamation inContinue reading “Christ is risen! Part 4”

Christ is risen! Part 3: The song of new life And somehow, all those attempts to say, “Hah! All your hope of new life was all an illusion! Look, hatred and injustice have triumphed after all” – all those attempts failed. The followers of Jesus said, “No, he is risen! We have not lost him.”Continue reading “Christ is risen! Part 3”

Christ is risen! Part 2: Something has happened, and it has set us free. Early on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb. They went to anoint a dead body. To revere the remains of the one they loved. To treat with honour the body that had been so disgracefullyContinue reading “Christ is risen! Part 2”

Christ is risen! (A theological reflection in 4 parts) Christ is risen! Part 1: The great reversal: hate to love; death to life. On the third day. For those who believe, who know the gospel, no more is needed to be said to connect us to resurrection life. Except to say, now it is theContinue reading “Christ is risen! Part 1”

What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 9: An afterthought to clear up a possible misconception Secular minded people sometimes get cross and frustrated with Christians for continually harping on about sin. They see this as a negative, oppressive thing, something that needs to be left behind in order to embrace life. And we canContinue reading “What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 9”

What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 8: A new settlement for religion We could stand back and say that Christians are not worshipping God (conceived as a person); they are worshipping a set of spiritual values, which they set up as the centre of their lives. We might say that they have personalised thisContinue reading “What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 8”

What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 7: Are you sure it’s true? Someone might still be sceptical about the list above of those things that are true. This is because the word “God” keeps appearing, and you may wish to complain that we had said that God does not do anything, because we areContinue reading “What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 7”

What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 6: So, what is true and not true? What I believe this review shows is that all the Christian claims are true. Though for clarity we need to say exactly what is true. It sounds rather damning:- God does not exist Jesus was not God’s Son He wasContinue reading “What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 6”

What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 5: Jesus’ crucifixion as a sacrifice for sin is still effective in our new understanding of God So, believers in this version of Christianity argue like this:- God is the voice we create in our heads which calls us to adopt a particular spiritual life and supports usContinue reading “What is the appeal of Jesus? Part 5”