Faith for Diagnosis and Cure
First published 31 August 2012 This post is now incorporated with 22 other similar ‘reflections’ in my book, Facing Cancer with Faith. Very recently the doctors diagnosed that the non-Hodgkins lymphoma, from which I have been free for two years, has returned. As at this point I have some mild symptoms, but nothing that yet…
The Risk of Offending People (Whose Rules Rule 12)
First published 2 April 2012 Should we try to avoid offending people? This is the last part of this series and I would be surprised if I haven’t offended anyone by what I’ve been saying over the past few months. As I’ve said throughout the series, talking about morality can be unpopular in a culture…
Loving By Talking About Sin (Whose Rules Rule 11)
First published 19 March 2012 Last time I was trying, poorly in my own judgment, to contrast the outcomes of non-religious morality (selfishness and oppression) with Christian morality (love, charity and care for everyone not matter how sinful). I really wanted to show that for a Christian to say that something is wrong, even while…
Love Is… (Whose Rules Rule 10)
First published 5 March 2012 I’ve been talking for what seems like a long time about morality, sin and the consequences of it. To be honest it was riots in the summer of 2011 that partly sparked the thoughts. Or rather it was the reaction of the respectable middle class that made me think. We…
All May Come! All May be Saved! (Whose Rules Rule 9)
First published 20 February 2012 We learnt last time that the equality of human beings within a Christian worldview involves not only being created as special by God, in His image, but certain other things that are universally true of human beings. As human beings we are universally tainted by sin – we have a…
The Road to Hell is Wide (Whose Rules Rule 8)
First published 30 January 2012 To recap, I’ve been talking for a few months about morality and it’s place in Christian thought. I’ve compared Christian rational foundations with non-religious foundations. Non-religious philosophies, I’ve argued, have no rational basis for morality. They want to say some things are right and some things are wrong. They even…
Nobody’s Perfect (Whose Rules Rule 7)
First published 10 January 2012 When we say, “nobody’s perfect!” we are normally trying to find an excuse for something we have done wrong. But at the same time we all know that it’s true. We know that we have faults as individuals, and we know that everyone has different faults. We disappoint ourselves with…
How to Enjoy Christmas
First published 23 December 2011 I was walking back from the office to where my car was parked in a side road one evening a couple of weeks ago. It was 5:15pm, cold, dark and crisp. It was early December, and one of the local residents had newly decorated the outside of their house with…
It’s Good To Be Human (Whose Rules Rule 6)
First published 19 December 2011 In order to start to sketch out Christian moral foundations we need to understand that the way Christians talk about equality is different to the way modern secular atheists talk about it. That’s because secular atheists can often appeal to equality as the fundamental truth on which to base moral…
No Harm Done (Whose Rules Rule 5)
First published 5 December 2011 If I were to say to a couple who were sexually active with each other outside of a heterosexual marriage (to each other!) that their sexual activity is wrong or sinful, I guess their response would probably be, “why is it wrong? What harm is it doing to anyone?” It’s…