Culture and Review - All Categories

Seminary sculptures confront war, torture and suffering

staff writers — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:00:49 +0100

An installation of sculptures responding to the horrors of war, particularly the ongoing war in Iraq, is on display at Union Theological Seminary in New York City until 16 May 2008. It is the work of priest and artist Thomas Faulkner.

Creationist film not very intelligently designed

staff writers — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:45:37 +0100

Millions of dollars have been spent promoting Ben Stein’s creationist propaganda movie ‘Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed’ to conservative church groups, but that money would have been better spent on fact checkers, say its critics.

Unravelling blood, oil and prophets

Spencer Dew — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:01:14 +0100

The bludgeoning conclusion of Paul Thomas Anderson's much-lauded, Oscar-nominated film "There Will Be Blood," which has recently been released on DVD, features a preacher forced to renounce his faith in God and admit charlatanry. Spencer Dew investigates.

New painting challenges image of St George the crusader

staff writers — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:53:46 +0100

A new painting of St George by Scott Norwood Witts, which depicts the saint as a man of compassion rather than a crusader, is to be unveiled at the Catholic Cathedral of St George, Southwark, to mark the saint’s day next week.

Why the church needs a new foreign policy

Simon Barrow — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:11:46 +0000

The United States and the United Kingdom are being forced this month (March 2008) to reflect on the recent heritage of their military interventions. Who or what are we trusting in when we choose the way of the sword over the way of the Cross, asks Simon Barrow. Where does salvation lie?

Faith, grief and adjusting to death

Andrew J. Weaver — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:32:58 +0000

There is a strong link between positive psychological adjustment to a death and one’s ability to deal with of the loss through one’s faith and religious practices, says Andrew J Weaver, a United Methodist minister and professional research psychologist.

Thou shalt not offend anyone: BBC's Jesus is nice but dull

Giles Fraser — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:30:53 +0000

Forget Maria. How do you solve a problem like Jesus? After all, everyone has a view: well-meaning Jewish guru, dangerous heretic, son of God, charlatan. The list is endless. Mel Gibson gave us the fundamentalist's Jesus of gruesome realism: a tortured body offset by expensive LA orthodontistry (bad teeth would have been a realism too far). This year's Easter offering from the BBC - boldly scheduled for primetime on BBC1 - reaches for the other extreme and presents the inoffensive Liberal Democrat Jesus: Nick Clegg with a beard.

A Methodist who keeps order in parliament

Kathleen LaCamera — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 08:46:57 +0000

Leading British Methodist Ruby Beech's "day job" is a position that dates back to at least the 15th century, reports Kathleen LaCamera. As an assistant sergeant at arms in the UK Parliament, she helps look after the security and administration of the House of Commons.

Giving up Establishment for Lent

Simon Barrow — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 09:35:23 +0000

The natural presumption of Establishment insulates the Church of England, says Simon Barrow. Even worse, it takes the opposite direction to Jesus, who rejected worldly power in the Temptation that Christians recall during Lent.

What lies beyond Lambeth's Sharia humiliation?

Simon Barrow — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:36:28 +0000

Asking where the Church of England can go from here, Simon Barrow looks at why and how Rowan Williams got hold of the wrong end of the stick over religious communal practice and the civil legal system, why a larger 'multi-faith settlement' is unhelpful, and how post-Christendom beckons.

Challenging the neo-liberal paradigm

Simon Barrow — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:34:46 +0000

In a provocative short article in the International Herald Tribune newspaper, Philip Blond argues that the dominant neo-liberal model of global economy is in crisis, and that both the political right and the political left have failed to understand the nature of the challenge this embodies.

Praying for unity across a century of division

Kersten Storch — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:53:44 +0000

The history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is not just about church cosiness, says Kersten Storch. It is about the quest for healing in a divided church and an unjust and unequal world.

Christ is an unwanted gift for the religious

Simon Barrow — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:10:01 +0000

Whether we love or hate Christmas, we know all about it. But the same may not be true of the coming of Jesus, says Simon Barrow. In Christ, God radically disrupts religious 'business as usual'.

Has Rowan Williams misunderstood Richard Dawkins?

Richard Skinner — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:58:08 +0000

While Rowan Williams rightly criticises Richard Dawkins for unfeasibly reducing religion to a pre-scientific explanatory system now superseded by science, says Ricahrd Skinner, he seems to have misunderstood Dawkins on evolution and survival strategies.

Theology in the Fiction of George Eliot - Review

Alison Goodlad — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:09:59 +0000

Theological truth and creative fiction are much closer to each other than might at first be presumed, Alison Goodlad discovers in reviewing Peter C. Hodgson's evocative treatment of the work of George Eliot.