Ekklesia | Columns | The Simon Barrow Column

Cultivating tough gratitude

Simon Barrow — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:14:21 +0100

Public life demands ‘tough’ corporate attributes rather than what it labels ‘soft’ personal ones – like love and gratitude. Simon Barrow argues that the communal cultivation of loving relation is needed to help redirect the official anonymity of the social order.

Change, maybe. But real difference?

Simon Barrow — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:39:44 +0100

As the political fallout from recent scandals continues, many are in favour of change, says Simon Barrow. But they do not necessarily want this change to make any real difference.

The terrifying truth about God

Simon Barrow — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 09:14:41 +0100

Often Christians behave as if their central convictions about God has little practical bearing on the world and its problems, says Simon Barrow. On the contrary, being engaged by the Trinitarian mystery of God is central to facing up to the world's lesions with realism and hope.

On not being idiotic about church schools

Simon Barrow — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:03:34 +0100

Dismissing those who want to reform faith schools as 'useful idiots' for a 'secularist conspiracy' misrepresents the facts, feeds absolutism and undermines sensible debate, say Simon Barrow & Jonathan Bartley. It also shows how weak the anti-reform case really is.

The disconnect between governors and governed

Simon Barrow — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:59:17 +0100

The furore about MP’s expenses has temporarily overshadowed all other political issues, says Simon Barrow. But it is perhaps better seen as a symptom of a much wider disconnect between governors and governed.

A different kind of loyalty

Simon Barrow — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:15:44 +0100

Some traditional loyalties bind us to dominant economic, political, social and religious systems, says Simon Barrow. The Gospel of Jesus turns such commitments upside down.

Too much belief in the system

Simon Barrow — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:10:48 +0100

You often get more preoccupation with finance in church meetings and more serious attention to God in political meetings, says Simon Barrow. At least in terms of being sanguine about their respective claims. Sometimes.

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.

Off on the wrong foot(ball) for Easter

Simon Barrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:09:06 +0100

Church leaders are "angrily" criticising the Premier League in England for holding football matches on Easter Sunday, a prime Bank Holiday in the UK. Simon Barrow argues that a more imaginative response is needed.

The cash value of 'sorry'

Simon Barrow — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:26:46 +0100

The recent ‘war of position’ on the economic crisis is more about the politics of appearance than the politics of change, says Simon Barrow. The real agenda cuts much deeper.

Marching to a different drum

Simon Barrow — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:00:06 +0100

It is understandable that some people feel sceptical about demonstrations in the wake of events like the G20 summit, says Simon Barrow. But mobilisation for change needs to be seen as part of a larger process of change, not as an act of disconnected idealism.

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.

Faith needs a freedom agenda

Simon Barrow — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:11:55 +0000

Genuine faith – in God, in the good, in people and in the future of our planet – grows through freedom, depends upon freedom to keep it honest, and can contribute to the shared openness and strived-for equality that is an essential part of our free flourishing, argues Simon Barrow.

An evangelical change of heart on sexuality

Simon Barrow — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:18:54 +0000

Evangelical Christians have been deeply immersed in the anti-gay problem, says Simon Barrow. But as they re-read the biblical message in the light of its living centre, Jesus Christ, they can be part of a historic change.

Scaring the hell out of kids?

Simon Barrow — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:26:02 +0000

Teachers have a tough job trying to balance the needs of pupils from diverse backgrounds, says Simon Barrow. Trying to do so is not ‘political correctness’. It’s humanly decent, educationally necessary - and Christianly desirable, too.