Culture and Review - Religion and Society

Prayer for the non-pious

Henry Morgan — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:35:01 +0100

Many people have lost touch with ‘institutional religion’, but not with spirituality. Henry Morgan explains how people’s passions and everyday experience can reconnect them with the God they already knew, and with prayer as a natural, integrating, liberating activity.

Resetting the American faith dialogue?

Martin Davis — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:37:16 +0100

Both believers (not least evangelical Christians) and non-believers are having a hard time pinning Barack Obama's faith down, says Martin Davis. This is because he is redrawing the dialogue about religion in the US.

The artistry of faith in foment

Simon Barrow — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:20:25 +0100

A cruciform tree, a radiating Cain eyed by a simmering Abel, and a doveish floating vision: these are just a few of the images you will see as part of the vital but little-known Methodist Art Collection, says Simon Barrow.

Recovering wisdom from the desert

Simon Barrow — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:13:18 +0100

Theologian Janet Soskice has written a fascinating book about the discovery of one of the most ancient Gospel manuscripts. It reminds us that to understand the search for meaning in the present we have to value the past properly, says Simon Barrow.

Seeing towards the heart of things

Simon Barrow — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:42:55 +0000

In a recent lecture given at the Royal Academy of Arts, reports Simon Barrow, the Archbishop of Canterbury explored aspects of how icons are examples of the way in which in which divine energy is present in material reality.

Why Christians should celebrate Darwin

Denis Alexander — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:31:11 +0000

One of the deep mysteries of the early 21st century is why one set of Christians tries to persuade another set of Christians to reject the theory of evolution, says Denis Alexander. He suggests a positive perspective on faith, science and Darwin.

Inaugurating Jesus?

Martin E. Marty — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:33:15 +0000

There are many people who are not Christians who revere Jesus, says Martin Marty. But when his name is invoked in the civic arena they hear assertions of majority privilege in the religious realm, where privilege often has taken form in power against others.

Bishop Gene Robinson's invocation for President Obama

staff writers — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:04:17 +0000

Bishop Robinson chose to eschew specifically Christian language for the occasion, saying that the texts and beliefs he holds sacred are not so held by all Americans. But his prayer could hardly be accused of pulling punches or resting on polite diplomacy.

Reconnecting spirituality and religion

Gethin Abraham-Williams — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:35:25 +0000

As religion has become progressively self-absorbed and spirituality increasingly other worldly, both have failed a generation searching for a vision of a better way, says Gethin Abraham-Williams. It's time for a change.

Laughter, wine and... Calvin?

Stephen Brown — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:31:48 +0000

The 16th-century Reformation figure Jean Calvin is often portrayed as a stern Protestant but an exhibition in Geneva of selected passages from his writings shows a dimension of the reformer that many people do not know.

The Gospel accorded to Antoni

Glynn Cardy — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:53:42 +0100

In a thoughtful, passionate and challenging reflection on homosexuality
and the Christian church, Glynn Cardy's focus is not on an 'issue' but
on the people who are most affected by prejudice, and their need for
justice, dignity and human rights.

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.

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.

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.