theology

Making our mind up on the European Union

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As with much of the wider population, many Christians remain unclear as to how they will vote in the June referendum on EU membership. Some are strongly committed to leave or to remain but most are probably still making their mind up. Sadly much of the campaign is focussed simply on claims and counter-claims about … Continue Reading

Coherence and variety in ordained ministry

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One of the many fascinating debates at Synod this week was on the proposals for Resourcing Ministerial Education (RME) on which I have written a couple of times before. I had put down one of four amendments to the motion from Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield, and I was asking for work to be done to check that RME was not undermining ‘our shared, catholic understanding of ordination as expressed in the Ordinal’ prior to implementation in September 2017.

What is the future of ministerial training?

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One of the important issues coming up in this session of Synod is the reconfiguration of ministerial training as part of the Renewal and Reform programme, under the title ‘Resourcing Ministerial Education.’ I commented on it last year, and had an exchange with Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield, who is leading on this. In view … Continue Reading

Do we need Karl Barth’s help with ethics?

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I have a confession to make: I feel rather ambivalent about Karl Barth. As a theology undergraduate, I absolutely loved reading his Evangelical Theology. But when doing my PhD on hermeneutics and Revelation, I came across some of his later writing on saga, and was very much less convinced. In rejecting the legacy of Liberal Protestantism’s … Continue Reading

Why labels are important

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Two years ago, we moved from a rather hideous 1970s breeze block house to a detached Victorian former farmhouse. It has lots of lovely features, one of which is a walk-in pantry off the kitchen. One member of our family (who shall remain nameless) has a thing about Tupperware, so several shelves of this pantry … Continue Reading

A vision for ministry and training

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Dr Jon Coutts is a Canadian who recently joined the faculty at Trinity College, Bristol; he blogs at http://thissideofsunday.blogspot.ca. I conducted a virtual interview with him exploring issues around ministry and ministry training, and I think his answers are truly fascinating. We have things to offer other contexts—but we also have important things to learn … Continue Reading

The kingdom and the common good

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In one of the presentations at the Premier Digital Media Awards I attended last month, the speaker used a phrase about his project which has stayed with me. A group of coders spent a weekend trying to design computer and phone apps that could be used ‘for the kingdom and the common good.’ I was … Continue Reading

Are we being honest about ordination training?

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There are some compelling arguments for the (relatively new) pattern of ‘contextual training’ for ordination. Steven Sherman, in his snappily titled Revitalizing theological epistemology (2008), argues that the historic separation of the seminary from the local church has created major problems for our whole concept of how we grow in the knowledge of God. His primary target … Continue Reading

Introduction to the Study of Paul

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Review of David G. Horrell, An Introduction to the Study of Paul, 3rd edn (T & T Clark Approaches to Biblical Studies; London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2015), ISBN 978-0-567-65625-4, p/b, 230 pp. The third edition of David Horrell’s introduction to the study of Paul has the great strengths of its predecessors – above … Continue Reading

The Case against Same-Sex Marriage

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ABC Religion and Ethics has just published a lecture by Anthony Fisher, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, offering what I think is one of the best, short arguments against recognising same-sex marriage. Fisher has been an academic, having been awarded a DPhil from Oxford in bioethics, and he has published on issues of abortion, family … Continue Reading