Ian Paul

Ian Paul is a theologian, writer and speaker. Associate Minister at St Nic's, Nottingham and Honorary Lecturer at the University of Nottingham. Mac user and chocoholic. Ian Paul on Google+

Extending human ability through technology

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The next Grove Ethics booklet is a fascinating study of transhumanism, the idea that we should transcend the limitations of our physical bodies through technology. It is by Michael Burdett, who is Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion, Science and Technology at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. I was struck by his opening introduction: Kevin Warwick, formerly Professor … Continue Reading

The end of residential training?

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It has been announced this morning that St John’s College, Nottingham, having just celebrated its 150th anniversary, is to cease training full-time residential ordinands. After many months of prayerful consideration, the college Council and Directorate are ready to take the bold step of remodelling the college to meet the future training needs of the church. … Continue Reading

What is Remembrance for?

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Remembering is a fundamental part of what it is to be human. That is why dementia is such a distressing condition; it robs us of our ability to remember, and as such seems to rob us of our very selves. I am constantly fascinated that the programme which allows people to reconstruct their family history … Continue Reading

In dialogue with Steve Chalke?

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Last week I was invited, with a small group of other bloggers and online journalists, to a discussion with Steve Chalke about the Open Church event being planned by Oasis next April. I was impressed with the idea of discussion on this, and appreciated the invitation and the opportunity to talk with Steve in person. … Continue Reading

Is Sunday a day of rest?

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Is Sunday a day of rest for you? If you are in church leadership, I suspect the answer will be a resounding ‘No’! Quite right too—most full-time church leaders will plan for another ‘Sabbath’ on a day other than Sunday. (If you don’t, you should). But is Sunday a day of rest for members of … Continue Reading

Daily lectionary in your calendar

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Simon Kershaw of Oremus has once again provided a calendar containing daily and weekly lectionary readings which will fit in all major calendar applications. Download it for free here, where there is also an invitation to make a donation if you wish. You can choose how much content you have in your calendar entry, and … Continue Reading

Why all the ‘End times’ speculation?

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There seems to be a rash of ‘end times speculation’ material coming to us from across the pond. The latest one is from someone called David Jeremiah—which I guess is a good name for someone claiming to have power and to be a prophet! (Think about it…). I haven’t looked in detail at this one, … Continue Reading

How to save the Church of England

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There has been quite a lot of interest in my previous post on How to Save a Diocese (great to see that mission can excite as much interest as sexuality!) and some really interesting things coming out in the comments. I offer here some further thoughts on the issue. First, it is apparent that there … Continue Reading

How to save a diocese

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Julian Henderson, Bishop of Blackburn, one year in post and after having got to know the lie of the land, has warned that unless the Church reinvents itself in his own diocese, it would disappear like the region’s textile industry. I am convinced that we need to embark on radical change. We need to reinvent … Continue Reading

(How) does Jesus fulfil our longings?

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To long for things is characteristic of being human. It is in our nature to reach into the future, to envisage that things will be different from how they are now, to imagine our possessing of things, qualities and attitudes that we do not at present have—even to be people that we are not yet. This sense of longing often focuses on key issues, things of central importance to us: