Category Archives: Theology

Why Christian truth is messy

Posted on February 26, 2016 by

However carefully formulated, our written doctrines, theologies and moral codes don’t and can’t convey the fullness of Christian truth. That’s partly because words aren’t up to the job, as I said last time. But even more it’s because Christian truth … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Incarnation, Spirituality, Theology, Truth | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Breathing new life into troublesome Christian ideas

Posted on February 19, 2016 by

Or, Rediscovering Christianity practically and symbolically… …or why I’m still fine to still call myself a sinner. These days, there are so many Christian terms that I feel ambivalent or uncertain about – sin, salvation, atonement, heaven, hell, Satan; God … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Liberalism, Theology, Truth | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Knowing God vs knowing about God

Posted on July 21, 2015 by

I’ve spent a lot of time over the years writing about God, faith and spirituality. So it’s easy to kid myself that I’m a bit of an expert (albeit an amateur one, if that isn’t a contradiction in terms – … Continue reading →

Posted in Love of God, Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Why doesn’t God just save everyone? II: Arminianism and Universalism

Posted on June 1, 2015 by

So last time I was looking at the Calvinist idea that God could sovereignly choose to save or redeem everyone, but doesn’t, for whatever mysterious reason. I said that though this view has some scriptural backing, there are other Bible passages … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Evangelicalism, Salvation, Theology, Universalism | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments

“I am” part II – the simplicity of God

Posted on February 3, 2015 by

Sorry if it all got a bit abstract last time – I get carried away with theology sometimes, which is dangerous for an amateur. 😉 So last time I said that God is both unknowable yet makes himself known; that … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Theology | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

“I am who I am” – Naming the unnameable God

Posted on January 29, 2015 by

So a small question for you – who is God? Last time we looked whether God might ever say “I am Charlie”. This time I’d like to look at an almost equally famous and maybe even slightly more important “I … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Theology | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

The Incarnation: Why did God become human? (part II)

Posted on December 19, 2014 by

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” John’s gospel “What if God was one of us, just a slob like one of us?” Joan Osborne Last time I looked at some of the reasons why God may have chosen … Continue reading →

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The Incarnation: why did God become human? (part I)

Posted on December 12, 2014 by

For me there are only two absolutely crucial miracles in Christianity, and they’re interlinked – the Incarnation and the Resurrection of Christ. In the first, God enters space-time and history and takes on our human nature, ‘humanising’ the deity. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Incarnation, Salvation, Theology | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Is Jesus the Messiah – and does it matter?

Posted on December 5, 2014 by

Last time I was asking whether Jesus was the Son of God. A slightly different question is whether he was also the Messiah (Hebrew Mašíaḥ) – or as translated into Greek, Khristós or Christ; literally ‘the anointed’. And the answer … Continue reading →

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