Category Archives: Emerging

Emerging in general, and from evangelicalism in particular.

Books: ‘How (not) to speak of God’, by Peter Rollins

Posted on March 24, 2014 by

I started this review over 3 years ago. Perhaps the length of time I’ve taken to complete it is an indication of how difficult it is to sum up this book in words… or perhaps it’s just a sign of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews, Emerging, Post-modernism, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The reality gap revisited – banning ‘should’ and ‘ought’

Posted on December 4, 2013 by

I’m not generally in favour of banning anything. Nonetheless, in my view ‘should’ should be removed from the dictionary, and ‘ought’ ought to be banned. 😉 We’ve probably all heard countless well-meaning Christian talks telling us what we ‘should’ (or … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging, Evangelicalism, Grace, Mental health, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The reality gap

Posted on September 4, 2013 by

So, good brothers and sisters in our Lord, we’re Christians saved by grace, Amen? We’ve been filled with God’s Spirit to develop in Christ’s character, love each other with Christ’s love, lead victorious lives of prayer and righteousness and good … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging, Evangelicalism, Grace, Psychology, The faith journey | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

The offence of the gospel, or just being offensive?

Posted on June 26, 2013 by

…Or, an appeal to be courteous in our dealings wherever possible. It’s a sad truism that Christians are not always known for their love, kindness and acceptance, but rather for their intolerance, bigotry, narrow-mindedness and even hate. One reason for … Continue reading →

Posted in Controversies, Emerging, Evangelicalism, Grace, Love of God | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Spiritual warfare – moving beyond demons in the closet

Posted on June 5, 2013 by

I said recently that nowadays I tend to steer well clear of anything to do with spiritual warfare. Back in my more charismatic days, 15 or so years ago, I was taught that we were all engaged in an on-going … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Controversies, Emerging, Evil, Hell, Mental health, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Towards a contemplative mind, or moving beyond facts

Posted on May 29, 2013 by

This is a follow-up to my previous post about moving on from old models of reality, in which I critiqued ‘evangelical modernism’ and suggested that our old paradigms need revising both in science and in faith. This time I’d like … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemplative, Emerging, Post-modernism, Spirituality, Stages of faith, Truth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Moving on from old models of reality

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

When I was a child I thought like a child; when I became an adult, I put childish things away… In third-year chemistry at school we were taught that electrons orbit the nucleus of their atom in concentric ‘shells’ rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging, Post-modernism, Stages of faith, The faith journey, Truth | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Why I am (not), part II – charismatic / evangelical / liberal…

Posted on May 10, 2013 by

Last time I was looking at my Anglo-Catholic upbringing and subsequent late-teen explorations into atheism and alternative spiritualities.  When I came back to Christian faith in my early 20s, it was from a desperate sense of the need for ‘salvation’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Charismatic, Emerging, Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, Liberalism, Stages of faith, The faith journey | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Embracing the void

Posted on March 1, 2013 by

This is the sort-of culmination of my recent Lent posts on letting go of old certainties and moving on into a new and as yet unknown space. I once wrote a scathingly satirical (though not particularly good) poem about an … Continue reading →

Posted in Church calendar, Contemplative, Dark night of the soul, Emerging, Prayer, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments