Category - theology

What’s God got to do with it?: Down to earth theology for the front line

Jordan Tchilingirian — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:06:33 +0100

Start: 11/06/2008 - 09:45

End: 11/06/2008 - 15:30

The very word ‘theology’ is a turn-off for many activists. Too often, theology seems abstract and disconnected from the reality of day to day community work.

Scrap farm export subsidies, says Swiss theological ethicist

Ecumenical News International — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:32:48 +0100

Agricultural export subsidies in rich countries which destroy local food production and the income of poor farmers in the global South need to be withdrawn to alleviate the world food crisis, says ethicist and priest Christoph Stückelberger.

The Earliest Gospel Sources and the Gospel of Peace

Jordan Tchilingirian — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:51:35 +0100

Start: 31/05/2008 - 09:30

End: 31/05/2008 - 16:00

In the revolutionary atmosphere just before the outbreak of the First Jewish-Roman War (a.d.

The God elusion

Simon Barrow — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:11:34 +0000

The current media-propelled debates about God are mostly hopelessly out of touch with their own intense fallibility, says Simon Barrow. He tries to explain why God-talk will always be helpfully elusive if it is faithful to what it seeks to point to.

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?

Resurrection is no Easter conjuring trick

Simon Barrow — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:41:09 +0000

The modern temptation is to dismiss resurrection as fantasy or reduce it to spiritualised sophistry, says Simon Barrow. The shape of the core Christian hope is both more substantial and more subtle than that.

Evolution is no threat to thoughtful religion, say US churches

staff writers — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:02:36 +0000

US churches defied the stereotype that American Christianity is a cipher for anti-science creationism last week, as they marked Evolution Weekend with sermons and seminars on how spiritual and scientific exploration go together.

Theology, science and the problem of ID

Simon Barrow — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:17:10 +0000

This paper briefly sets out the religious, philosophical and political context of both the 2007 government guidelines on science teaching and the recent report and statement of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), explaining why 'intelligent design' (ID), popular among some religious groups, is neither sound science nor good theology. It includes notes, an overview of 2005-7 Ekklesia comments on creationism and ID, and a select bibliography.

Simon Barrow

Binding the church and constraining God

Savi Hensman — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:40:17 +0000

In a paper carefully analysing the popular use and misuse of biblical and doctrinal language about God and Church, Savitri Hensman shows that inflexible, one-sided, naïve or ideological conceptions of God in sections of the Christian tradition can reinforce domineering models and practices in the Church – which is in fact supposed to be a creative vehicle of Jesus’ broken body in the world, not a defensive fortress. God is not confined by rules set by humans and our institutions, she argues, however powerful they may be by earthly standards. In the biblical tradition, God is at work outside as well as within institutions, including those that claim to be about God’s business. Liberation, reformation and healing will continue to happen even if, at first, they are not acknowledged by the authorities (ecclesial and otherwise); and in time truth will break through our illusions. This paper is highly relevant to issues being discussed in and beyond Anglicanism, concerning its disputed future, and in other sections of the worldwide Church. It makes specific reference to the debate about an Anglican Covenant in the run-up to the Lambeth Conference 2008. It may also give those outside the Church a better understanding of how language and tradition is being applied and misapplied within very diverse Christian communities during a time of considerable upheaval and anxiety, both inside and outside the Church.

Savi Hensman

Intelligent Design - the wrong path

Press Office — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:42:05 +0000

The religion and society think-tank Ekklesia has welcomed a report from leading scholars critiquing 'intelligent design' ideas on both theological and scientific grounds.