migration

Archbishops, politics, and migration policy

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I was invited yesterday to take part in a discussion this morning on ITV’s Good Morning Britain—but they wanted someone in the studio rather than on Zoom. The question to discuss was: does the Christian faith say something about politics, and should church leaders ‘interfere’ in politics. Introducing the item (at 7.20 am), the presenter … Continue Reading

On bishops, politics and Rwanda

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The bishops of the Church of England have hit the headlines by writing to The Times in protest at the Government’s plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda for treatment. Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation. Rwanda is a brave country … Continue Reading

Tyndale NT Study Group 2020: theology in a world on the move

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We have a fascinating line-up of papers for the 2020 NT Study Group which will be meeting with all the study groups for the interdisciplinary Quadrennial Tyndale Fellowship Conference at High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire from 

Monday 29th June to Wed 1st July 2020.

 Our theme this year (for all the groups together) is

Doing Theology in a World on the Move – Migration, Borders and Citizenship.

The Tyndale New Testament Study Group is part of the Tyndale Fellowship for biblical and theological research, based at Tyndale House in Cambridge, and including evangelical scholars from all over the world.

You can book your place at the conference through the Tyndale Fellowship website. There is an early bird discount until 31st January 2020. 

The full programme of papers is as follows:

Acts

Batanayi I. Manyika: Reading Acts 12 in the Shadow of Empire

Delano V. Palmer: Movement and Dispersion in the Book of Acts  

Miles Tradewell: Monarchy and Sacred Space Reimagined: Decentralisation and Internationalism in the Early Chapters of Acts?

Is there no hope without children?

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Will Jones, who has contributed to this blog in guest posts as well as comments, wrote an interesting and challenging piece on the political website Conservative Woman. The website describes its values as being “unashamedly those of faith, married family and nation-state”, though it actually dissociates itself from a direct link with the Conservative party. It … Continue Reading

Are we allowed to fear immigration?

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When you wake up to hear that the Archbishop of Canterbury is the lead item on the morning news, then you feel something has either gone very right or something has gone very wrong. That’s what I felt last Friday, and the comments that prompted the headlines were in Justin Welby’s interview with Parliament’s The House magazine. … Continue Reading

Virtue signalling and moral decisions

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In the discussion about how to respond to the refugee crisis, I have come across a new phrase: virtue signalling. Apparently coined by Libby Purves, it involves saying something that has moral appeal but without being founded on any kind of clear thinking. Up till now, when I have read Giles Fraser’s public pronouncements, the … Continue Reading

Thinking about migration

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Having talked in my last post about our immediate response to the situation of refugees from Syria in Europe, some other issues have challenged me to engage mind as well as heart. There have been several things about the reporting and comment over the last few days that puzzled me. First was the tragic story of … Continue Reading

Responding to refugees

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Compassion. Surely that is the only legitimate response to seeing a three-year-old boy, drowned and washed up on a Turkish beach, fleeing with his family from the way in Syria. It was especially poignant yesterday, since it mingled on my Facebook feed with photographs of other boys, dressing in a red top, ready for the … Continue Reading