We’ve an exhibition on in church over the next week. It is an exhibition of art by Syrian Refugee Children. Its fantastic and a way of seeing what is happening in that part of the world through different eyes.
There’s a preview tonight (Friday) at 6.30 pm. If you’d like to come to that preview, consider this your invitation.
See you there.
Hello,
If this blog were a talk radio show, I would say something like ‘long time listener, first time caller’. I found this article very interesting and the role of the Bible in the 21st century is something that many people are hesitant to enter meaningful discussion about. Being brought up in an Evangelical tradition I was taught to hold the Bible in very high regard. However I’ve come to realise in recent years that Scripture, Tradition and Reason is the only tenable way to approach one’s faith. Old teachings do run deep, though, and the question needs to be asked, when is it appropriate to look to the scriptures as a source of authority? The flagrant abuse of the Bible to further dogmatic agendas is undoubtedly a source of frustration to many Christians, but what do we do when reason seems to lead to a stalemate? A prime example will be when Margot MacDonald eventually revives her End of Life Assistance Bill. Many Christians in Scotland will be lobbying against and undoubtedly no small number for. Now scripture and tradition would affirm the sanctity of life, but that won’t stop quite a few people allowing their opinions to be moulded seemingly by reason alone. Meanwhile there will be a great many caught in the middle of very persuasive arguments, struggling to make up their minds while desperately looking for something authoritative to cut through the confusion. Are we too scared of fundamentalism to look to the Bible for guidance in such scenarios?
Cheers!
Kelvin, I’m fascinated by your blog posts this week and encouranged that your statements make such sense to me and my view of my faith and the world. Great stuff.
I too have followed your blog this week with interest and have found that it has encouraged my broadening faith, stimulated by St Mary’s. Thanks for the effort and thought you have applied. Dont be too hard on Evangelicals though.
Being an Evangelical taught me so much of what I know…
[…] that the BIble holds a primary place of reference for Christian life (and I acknowledge that my boss doesn’t*, in the sense I propose here), one ought to have something to say about the prminence of […]
Being an Anglican educated in a United Methodist seminary, my stool has four pegs; scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.
I have enjoyed these fireside chats good Padre.
This reminds me of a funny conversation I had with my 20 yr old son – we found ourselves discussing whether or not Kelvin was an evangelical?!!
He had taken a university course on Evangelicalism in America and I suspect it was taught by a (perhaps undercover) evangelical. Seems that one of the ideas that my son came away with was that being evangelical was more a way of doing things – an idea that we did indeed hear from Kelvin – that one has the good news and is eager for the world to know.
Of course my argument was that evangelicals do have to believe certain things, that I remember realizing I wasn’t an evangelical anymore when I couldn’t believe that there was a certain group of people, however they were defined, for whom hell was reserved. I feel there are parts of the movement that are just not benign.
But anyways, it is remarkable that someone somehow trying to put evangelicalism in the best light caused him to conclude that Kelvin fit the bill.
I think in the end we came up with the conclusion that Kelvin is able to hold a distinct theological vision in a perhaps evangelical way, having taken the best from his roots. I hope I won the day.
The whole conversation felt a little like the Twilight Zone.
This is what I said today on Radio 4 at 0543: Good Morning It is a year today since Barak Obama became President of the United States of America. When power changed hands peacefully in America a year ago, the world had its first Black leader of a super-power. It was a moment of US…
Good morning. I once won a scholarship to go exploring – finding out about what faith was like in a far off land. I chose to go to Egypt to spend time with the Desert Fathers – monks who live in monasteries far off the beaten track in the Egyptian desert. There I found vibrant…
This is what I said on Radio 4 at 0543 this morning: Good morning. Today is the anniversary of the birth of AA Milne. That makes it the birthday of Winnie the Pooh as well. Later on today, I’ll be marking this as Winnie the Pooh Day. I’ll pour myself a cup of tea and…
Today has been quite a busy day at St Mary’s. The Cathedral hosted the election of the new bishop. The vote was over quickly and decisively when The Very Rev Gregor Duncan was chosen to be the next bishop of the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway in the first ballot. (Canon 4 allows up to…
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