The Third Discourseman I’ve often found the phrase ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ a bit odd. After all, the cover is still part of a book, and has still had some sort of paid designer/artist behind it, who has hopefully put effort into making it grab people’s attention and compel them to readContinue reading “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover?”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
A Coronavirus Advent
The Second Discourseman Through the year, no season gives us such consciousness of time as Advent. We experience both the brevity of daily light and the sluggishness of winter, as we wait for the eternal Light to come once more into our world. This year it is even more stark. Our liberties seem likely toContinue reading “A Coronavirus Advent”
City Reflections
The First Discourseman Since moving into a city, I have wondered about the spiritual dimension to geography, and how a city can shape our reality.
Is nominalism that bad?
The First Discourseman Is there a greater evil than religious nominalism? A carapace of piety masking the unrepentant heart; salvation received through communion and confession; or a culture where the Church has been irredeemably conflated with the state. Nominal Christianity is where the right things are done for the wrong reasons, or when people payContinue reading “Is nominalism that bad?”
I’m not that important
The Fourth Discourseman I keep on writing, or I should say, mostly writing, articles about all sorts of high-brow stuff, a bit like my one on early-modern atheism – which, in case you didn’t notice (perhaps you didn’t read it), is rather muddled, for the most part because my ideas shifted quite substantially in theContinue reading “I’m not that important”
The Limits of Rationality
The First Discourseman It seems every age claims enlightenment- in the eighteenth century The French Revolution considered itself the advent of a new rational era; in the early twentieth century the philosophy of logical positivism affirmed that the only type of knowledge was scientific; then at the end of the century the fall of theContinue reading “The Limits of Rationality”
Strangers to Solemnity
The Second Discourseman On the day after the death of Prince Philip, I was quietly watching coverage of the 41-gun salute taking place around the country, when my friend entered with a look of concern. “You alright?” Yes, I was fine. A short while later: “Are you sure you’re okay?” I was somewhat bemused; IContinue reading “Strangers to Solemnity”
The Unnatural Environmentalism of XR
The Second Discourseman Some time ago a friend told me of his fright when he was walking through Cambridge and turned to see gathered behind him a dozen deathly white faces, swathed in scarlet robes, chanting in the evening light. By now, such an appearance of Extinction Rebellion protestors is unlikely to elicit too muchContinue reading “The Unnatural Environmentalism of XR”
Conspiracy Theory or Common Sense?
The First Discourseman I will probably take the vaccine, but it’s strange to me how few people have any qualms whatsoever with vaccines or vaccine passports. I’d thought I was being fairly sensible when, upon the rollout of the vaccine, I thought I’d better take my chances with COVID, but I’ve discovered that puts meContinue reading “Conspiracy Theory or Common Sense?”
Green Conservatism, Green Christianity
The First Discourseman Conservatives, Christians, and most of all conservative Christians are unenthusiastic about the environment. Largely it’s an issue that goes unmentioned; few would say it doesn’t matter, but the more radical calls for environmental justice or stewardship are met with indifference at best.
The Four Discoursemen 