What matters in a marriage partner

Earlier this year, we ran some marriage seminars at church. The first session had the headline- marriage is about serving God. If you think that is odd, it may be worth remembering that singleness is also about serving God. In fact from a Christian perspective, any way of life that is not about serving God … Continue reading What matters in a marriage partner →

Catholic vs Protestant, though the lens of Tolkien and Lewis

If you want to understand the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, you could do worse than look at the creation myths of two Oxford friends, Tolkien and Lewis. Tolkien was a devout Catholic. And although his arguments were a key part of Lewis becoming a Christian, Lewis was a Protestant Anglican. Both Oxford academics, they … Continue reading Catholic vs Protestant, though the lens of Tolkien and Lewis →

Faith seeking understanding 4

For previous posts in this series: https://jotsandscribbles.blog/2024/11/01/faith-seeking-understanding-3-common-ground-and-common-reasoning/ https://jotsandscribbles.blog/2024/10/18/faith-seeking-understanding-1-evangelical-suspicion-of-anselms-faith-seeking-understanding/ https://jotsandscribbles.blog/2024/10/23/faith-seeking-understanding-2-the-confessional-goal-and-overcoming-mindless-parroting-of-words/ Anselm's Faith seeking understanding seems at first glance an unpromising approach for an evangelical committed to Scripture as the source of revelation. Through this series, I've argued that it is actually very helpful as part of evangelical theological exploration. a) The goal (that which is to … Continue reading Faith seeking understanding 4 →

Faith seeking understanding 1: Evangelical suspicion of Anselm’s “faith seeking understanding”

My formal theological training has not been typical for an evangelical Baptist. Rather than attending an evangelical Bible college, I did a 1 year post-graduate diploma at St Stephen’s House in Oxford. Then for my MPhil (at Trinity College, Bristol), I focused on a 12th century monk (technically a canon regular) called Richard of Saint … Continue reading Faith seeking understanding 1: Evangelical suspicion of Anselm’s “faith seeking understanding” →

Feeling doubts yet strong in faith

(This blog post is an exploration of an issue- I'd welcome feedback, and may end up changing my mind later on.) Different pastors have different personalities. That comes across in preaching style and in pastoral care. It is helpful for there to be a range of personalities and styles, as each may be particularly helpful … Continue reading Feeling doubts yet strong in faith →

What is wrong with us as a country?

We don’t realise how rich we are! I tend to be quite careful about expressing political views online or in public. As a church pastor, my job is to help people unite around Jesus. There are a few obvious issues (matters of life and death, honesty in public life, freedom of religion and speech) which … Continue reading What is wrong with us as a country? →

Should leaders be “vulnerable”?

Leaders in many organisations, including churches, carry a wide range of responsibilities. And these often start to feel like burdens or pressures. I think this is common across institutions and fields. There are pressures. Leadership creates a challenge in how to express that. And Christian leadership, with Jesus’ call to integrity and truthfulness, faces this … Continue reading Should leaders be “vulnerable”? →

New opportunities and dangers for the church

Over the last few years, there have been some cultural shifts that have been encouraging for Christians. There have been a number of high profile intellectuals or public figures who have moved from atheism to some form of Christian faith, including Paul Kingsnorth and Ayyan Ali. The individual shifts reflect something of a cultural shift. … Continue reading New opportunities and dangers for the church →

Demons and spiritual forces

Some people are fascinated by the idea of spiritual forces at work, and others find the idea outlandish and weird. No doubt some people are too fascinated by the spiritual forces at work, or too quick to blame things on demons that are really human sinful choices. But people who grew up in Western culture … Continue reading Demons and spiritual forces →

Why McGilchrist is wrong on the reformation

(The outline of McGilchrist’s thesis is here: https://jotsandscribbles.blog/2023/11/07/introduction-to-the-master-and-his-emissary/) For McGilchrist, the reformation is the first step towards unbalanced left hemisphere dominance, a step towards the enlightenment. It’s easy to see why he should think this. The focus on the word of God above the visual arts in church looks like a loss of right hemisphere insights. … Continue reading Why McGilchrist is wrong on the reformation →