Category Archives: God

The importance of religious experience Part 3: What if religious experiences have an entirely natural cause? I don’t think there is a way to answer this question with certainty, and each person simply has to decide what they think is most plausible. However, we can return to the issue that there is no doubt thatContinue reading “The importance of religious experience. Part 3”

The importance of religious experience Part 2: What’s going on when we experience anything? The argument from religious experience is a very strong one. If I am experiencing now things in the external world – eg I can see trees and houses, and tables and chairs and people – then I am happy to acceptContinue reading “The importance of religious experience. Part 2”

The importance of religious experience (A theological and philosophical reflection in 6 parts) The importance of religious experience Part 1: Two options: “I’ve met God” or, “It’s just all in the mind”. I have believed in God all my life. There have been periods of extreme doubt, when I could easily have given up, butContinue reading “The importance of religious experience. Part 1”

Awestruck Part 4: Whole And so now, at the reflective end of my life (I mean, as opposed to the setting out, beginning, and striving, and lots to do end of my life) I am wondering what it would mean – and is it even possible – to stitch together these two aspects of myContinue reading “Awestruck. Part 4”

Awestruck Part 3: Stitching together I may well just have made a mistake. I have noticed something – that life is ineffably wonderful – good – but have been knocked off course by this, when our task is to notice the beauty and then get on with what we’re doing. Certainly, up till now, IContinue reading “Awestruck. Part 3”

Awestruck Part 2: Torn But what if we could stitch together the everyday and the wonderful? I am tempted to say that all life has that awestruck quality to it, but I may be going too far, losing touch with reality – and certainly leaping ahead. For we are still struggling to make sense ofContinue reading “Awestruck. Part 2”

Awestruck (A reflection in 4 parts) Awestruck Part 1: That moment We all know the experience. We have stepped into a cathedral, and we stop in awe, looking at the vaulted ceiling, astounded by the sense of space, the cavern of air between the pillars. Or we are out on a walk in the countrysideContinue reading “Awestruck. Part 1”

Ultimate reality At the core of the human mind, it is possible to discover an experience of transcendent truth that exhilaratingly transforms your understanding of what your life means, giving you a sense of connection with the ultimate – a union of the self with the infinite and eternal, a taking into yourself all thatContinue reading “Ultimate reality”

Time and place and transience Part 6: God is all in all Once again we see (what a surprise!) that God is the ground of our being, the foundation of our lives, the one who gives meaning and purpose to our lives, the one who not only enriches our lives beyond measure, but who holdsContinue reading “Time and place and transience. Part 6”

Time and place and transience Part 5: We are the apple of God’s eye You see why I am so keen for God to actually exist, rather than just being an idea that is useful to us humans in getting through life. If God does exist, and if we take seriously what God must beContinue reading “Time and place and transience. Part 5”