Several of the greatest poets in the English tradition from the Renaissance onward have sought to replace God with the human imagination, says Michael Robbins. They have succeeded and failed in interesting ways.

If watching football is a waste of time with redeeming moments, much the same could be said about prayer, says Simon Barrow. In a world over-attached to achievement, we lose sight of the fact that what is really 'worth it' is often not conventionally 'productive'.

Guns in church show that whatever is said about trust in God, it's really the threat of violence that we are trusting, says Simon Barrow. And this contradiction opens up a rich vein of satire against our patently false gods.

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.

A celestial atlas by Scottish amateur astronomer Alexander Jamieson, dating back to 1822, is a star item at this year's Christian Aid charity book sale in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is one of the largest sales of its kind in the world.

Imagine a world of soundbite politics where the machinery of power is operated by vacillating professional politicians, out of their depth, jumping to the whims of ruthless, feral spin doctors. That, says Alan Wilson, is the film satire In The Loop

How many assumptions do we make about other people, on a daily basis, for no other reason than experience, bigotry and lack of imagination? Hannah Kowzsun has her presets challenged by Susan Boyle.

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.

The great tradition of the biblical oratorio lives on, says Andrea Stephens. Retired URC minsiter Derek Wensley has his full-length work Re:Creation performed at St John's Smith Square in April 2009.

Bill Maher's movie Religulous manages to laugh at nutty believers and caricature religion, but it doesn't actually tell us anything or indicate any learning, says Deirdre Good. It takes us in a circle - but not a hermeneutical one.

The film Watchmen directly asks what no other superhero movie has ever had the courage or audacity to posit, says Kevin Boyd. Is society actually worth saving?

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.

There have been a vraiety of responses to the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire, says Alison Downie, including some quite dismissive ones. But what is written, she suggests, is that a life of integrity is its own reward.

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.

Could any film be more timely? asks Vic Thiessen. Waltz With Bashir depicts an Israeli soldier in the Lebanon War of 1983 and combines deep psychological insights with a strong anti-war message.