It should not be long until the Scottish Government comes to its decisions about how to move forward on Equal Marriage in Scotland.
Two members of St Mary’s, Jaye and Ruth Richards-Hill had a good (and surprisingly long) interview on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday.
If you are interested in hearing it, you can find it here: http://t.co/85R0zdoL
The clip starts at 2 hours 31 minutes in – available for another 6 days.
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.
Kelvin: Operation completed successfully on Tuesday – no complications. I am in awe of the surgeon.Tilly: Sticky paws and a bad temper. She is in awe of the vet. [The bad temper is a sign of normality].
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I'm impressed with the on-line petition that has been set up on www.inclusivechurch.net, in response to the events in the Church of England this summer. I've signed it and would recommend that anyone who wants an open and inclusive church does so. The fundamentalist parts of the church seem to want to dictate who is…
The Whole Armour”How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts.”So said the psalmist in the psalm we read together this morning (Psalm 84).One of the things which I tend to do when I am on holiday is to make for the dwelling places of the Lord of hosts ? or at least make…
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