In recent months, people have been speculating about what’s going wrong in the Church of England. Some have suggested that the Church has abandoned and rejected the ‘supernatural’ elements of God, as they think that supernatural events are counter-scientific and drive people away from God. This raises the massive issue of how we should view the miracles in the Bible; it’s a challenge to all who want to believe.
Author: James Blott
I am informed. Are you?
Several media commentators have noted the fact that the 'message' about 'the science' of Covid has been changing since just before Christmas. I also think it might be, very slowly. But I remain staggered at how many people remain totally uninformed and unaware that the unbalanced message pumped out by the Mainstream Media every single day is not as definitive and clear-cut as they would like you to believe. As with most subjects, the only way to make yourself informed is to read widely, from reputable sources. And I do not mean Facebook or Twitter!
We can’t go on ignoring the evidence!
We can't go on ignoring the evidence! Dr Mike Yeadon's latest bombshell interview
Public Health Warning: Focusing on yourself can seriously damage your health!
I wonder whether you’ve noticed people in public places showing increasing signs of anger? I’m not talking about the way people treat each other on social media, as personally, for the sake of my sanity, I don’t go there. No, I’m talking about how people behave towards each other in supermarkets, shops, on trains and in the street. I must admit that this has been a growing trend over most of my lifetime, but it seems to have greatly accelerated in the last couple of years. I’ve been trying to reflect on these questions: What is it that makes us unhappy? And what tends to make us happy?
The Bible Part 3. The Bible is not meant to be used as a weapon!
I’ve chosen this week’s Bible passages, as it’s essential for any extended comment on the Bible to face up to the fact that there’s a great deal in it that’s incredibly difficult, when judged by our modern standards. We can’t ignore this, but it’s a powerful argument for not taking the Bible literally. If we reject homosexuality because it’s called an abomination in Exodus 20, but we then choose to turn a blind eye to the instruction to put homosexuals to death, then are we taking the Bible literally? Surely biblical literalists should, in order to maintain their argument, be campaigning for the death penalty to be introduced for homosexual acts? This small example highlights the impossibility and stupidity of the biblical literalist arguments.
The Bible Part 2. We must keep an open mind when reading the Bible
In my last post, I urged the importance of creating time and peace, to allow God to talk to us individually through the Bible. In this post, I want to look at the nature of the Bible and tackle some of the pitfalls we should try to avoid. My final post will give advice about which readings to start with, where additional help can be obtained and summarise some basic principles. Please do stick with me through this most important of topics!
Reflective Preacher 