Conversation about assisted suicide, dying with dignity and euthanasia is likely to hot up this summer, as BBC2 prepares to air a new series on the subject.
How can we, as Christians, speak to our friends, family and colleagues about euthanasia without seeming heartless and unfeeling? Here are 7 tips to speaking positively about these senstitive issues.... continue reading
The latest "news" about Christianity from the BBC has got us thinking about the types of Christianity-based stories that do, and don't, make it into the headlines.
The Beeb's latest piece, on a book which claims the timings of Easter week in the Gospels don't fit together, fits into the first of our three "this gets into the mainstream media" categories:
And here are the three headlines you won’t see quite as often!:
If you’re interested in looking at how the different events of Easter week as recounted by the four Gospel writers actually fit together, this timeline is great.
There’s a new “Bible”… for atheists. Which, it strikes me, is a contradiction in terms.
Humanist philosopher AC Grayling has written “The Good Book” as a blend of Greek philosophy, Confucian sages and the discoveries of modern science.... continue reading
Please note that this was an April Fools joke. At The Good Book Company, our aim is to produce materials that help Christians to read the Bible for themselves so that they might grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the very opposite of the approach suggested by the Pre-thumbed Bible.
Although we know that many enjoyed the joke, we are sorry for any offense that was caused to those who are unfamiliar with our resources and underlying principles.
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A major topic of conversation in our office today, like in most offices up and down the country and round the world, has been what’s happened in Japan.
How do we respond to such horrendous suffering? How do Christians begin to trust a good God in the face of such facts?
In some ways, now is not the time for anything other than sorrow. giving what we can, and, in a Christian’s case, prayer. But still, some people demand answers from us: here, for what it’s worth, is what we think we might try to say.
Some other helpful and interesting resources:
A church in Wiltshire has discoverd that an extremely rare first edition King James Bible had been sitting on a shelf gathering dust for the last 150 years.
The BBC reported that it is one of fewer than 200 original printings of the KJV known to exist.
Church council member Geoff Proctor told the BBC that the most important thing about the discovery was that it was meant to be a living working book for people to live by.
"Well I think what it's going to do is enable us to talk about the Bible," he said.
"Because in a secular world it's seen as an important document, it will actually bring the opportunities to us to go and discuss it in more detail.
"When we took it for evaluation to the curator of a museum, one of the first things he said was whatever you do you must display this so that people can read the word.
"That stuck with me—the fact that it's what it says rather than what it is," he said.
It struck me how this story is repeated in millions of households in the UK and beyond. It's surprising how many houses you go in have a Bible on a shelf somewhere. But it's not a lucky charm, and it's no use if it's not read.
And I'm not talking about non-Christian homes…
That's one of the messages of a new BBC Two series, "The Bible's buried secrets". It's presented by a new TV presence, Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou, who's a lecturer at Exeter University, and has been talked about in the media today.
Obviously, millions will watch this when it's aired, and we'll blog a Bible-centred response to its precise claims as and when they're made. But just to pick up on what's been in the news today:
The God of the Bible, Yahweh, had a wife, Asherah, who was part of a "divine pair" with him.
How strange that the Bible doesn’t mention this! If Yahweh and Asherah were a couple, they clearly really didn't get on, since Yahweh told his people to cut down their Asherah poles which they gathered around to praise this alternative "god" (see for instance Judges 6 v 25), and He was "provoked to anger" when His people worshipped Asherah (1 Kings 14 v 15).
God's people were called to worship, love and serve only Him (Exodus 20 v 3). Why? Because He is the true God, the real God, the only God who can deliver on His promises (Psalm 115 v 1-11).
"Eve has been very unfairly maligned as the troublesome wife who brought about the Fall."
If this is historical, it's not unfair: it's fact. And of course Adam certainly doesn't get away with it either: God holds him to account for his failure to man up and warn his wife off listening to the serpent. The Bible doesn't present one as any more or less guilty than the other: both rebel against God. Both receive curses because of it. This view has more to do with medieval Catholic teaching than what the Bible actually says.
"As an academic, I think you leave faith at the door… I don't think you can use the Bible as a reliable historical source."
The second half of that statement is a statement of opinion. Dr Stavrakopoulou is of the belief that the Bible is not historical. But that in itself is a faith position. It means that when she reads the Bible she has already decided the events didn't really happen in history—that's a belief, just as much as deciding the events did happen in history. It's a fact that needs to be pointed out as often as possible by Christians: everyone has faith, and you can't leave it at the door when you read the Bible.
One more quick thing: the comments under The Telegraph article on this are mainly angry that an atheist is able to talk about the Bible on TV. Actually, I'm not sure that's a problem in and of itself, if:
Hopefully the series will include those three things!
Great interview on Sky Sports this morning with Greg Cushing, who played scrum-half for Cambridge University in this afternoon's rugby league clash with Oxford.
Greg's a committed Christian, and in the report speaks openly and non-cheesily about his faith (interspersed with the obligatory shots of the river in Cambridge and heavy-looking books about Christianity).
It's well worth watching the whole two minutes here, but here's a great quote from Greg, linking his experience of having team-mates in rugby to how he sees and values Jesus:
"You just have to look into their eyes and when they say 'I will lay my body on the line for you', you know they're telling the truth.
"When you look into Jesus' eyes, metaphorically, you see that look, that look of self-sacrifice, that says 'Not only will I lay my body on the line for you, I will pour out my blood for you, I will give my life for you.'"
The only bit he seemed to hesitate on at all was whether he was praying for victory. Which has got me thinking about how Christian elite sportsmen pray: is it right to pray for victory? And how do I (definitely not an elite sportsman!) pray in the equivalent situations in my life. I'm having a think, and I imagine there'll be a blog on it before too long…
Spotted this link on the BBC news website: "Kinky Granny among those who passed". Of course "Kinky Granny" grabs attention - but what caught my eye was "passed".
Passed what? Her driving test? The citizenship exam? Her 100th birthday? No—it was a link to the monthly review of lesser-known people who've recently died.
But I still want to know what "passed" means. Is it short for "passed on" or "passed away"? If so, where to? Some pleasant place where the deceased meet loved ones and look down benevolently on this world, like in the bestseller The Lovely Bones? Or have they "passed" some kind of entrance exam, proving themselves good enough for "heaven"?
Or is it simply that their lives have passed - been used up, finished, no longer existing?
If the BBC mean any of the above, it can only be because they don't believe Jesus' words: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5 v 24
Today is World Book Day (which is why you might have spotted schoolchildren doing a bad impression of Harry Potter/Spiderman/Bella Swan).
So, to celebrate, we'd love you to tell us in the Comment section below:
Which book has had the most effect on you in the past year?
That's a deliberately vague question, and secular books allowed just as much as Christian ones!
