Here goes...

I have a new book coming out,called " The Widening Circle ", published by SPCK - it comes out on November 20th, and the theme is Priesthood - not in the narrow sense of ministers (although it does get onto that in the end) but looking at the broader theme of priesthood in Christian theology. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting excerpts here on this blog to give you a bit of a taste of the whole thing. First up: Created for Joy The creation accounts in the book of Genesis do not tell us why God created the heavens and the earth. They just tell us that he did. To find the beginnings of a reason, we need to look elsewhere, to one of the other Old Testament books that develops a theology of creation: the book of Psalms. There, the creation exists as a reflection and expression of the goodness and glory of God himself. Psalm 19 begins with the classic statement of this idea: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” (Ps 19.1). Psalm 104 is perhaps the greatest creat

It's not hard to feel the case for assisted dying. Watching a loved one in pain while terminally ill is hard. The desire to relieve people of suffering is strong and the instincts behind it are often noble. However to legalise assisted dying is is a big step for us to take as a society and there are historical factors that might make us pause before making such a step, however minor it may seem at the time, and however many safeguards surround it. Michael Burleigh's book, ' Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda'  (2006) is a long read, at times depressing and sometimes inspiring, but always impresssively erudite. One of the most interesting sections is a description of the early development of the Nazis' extermination policies. In 1930s Germany, it started with the gradual acceptance of the idea (as it happens, agreed to by the 'Inner Mission' - one of the main Protestant welfare agencies), that sterilization was '

" The Savior is working mightily among men, every day He is invisibly persuading numbers of people all over the world.., to accept His faith and be obedient to His teaching. Can anyone, in face of this, still doubt that He has risen and lives, or rather that He is Himself the Life? Does a dead man prick the consciences of men, so that they throw all the traditions of their fathers to the winds and bow down before the teaching of Christ? If He is no longer active in the world, as He must needs be if He is dead, how is it that He makes... the adulterer [cease] from his adultery, the murderer from murdering, the unjust from avarice, while the profane and godless man becomes religious... All the disciples of Christ despise death; they take the offensive against it and, instead of fearing it, by the sign of the cross and by faith in Christ trample on it as on something dead. Before the divine sojourn of the Savior, even the holiest of men were afraid of death, and mourned th

An Experience of German Fussball We walk towards the ground through the drizzle. Union Berlin at home to FSV Frankfurt. We trudge along wet streets into the woods - that's an odd one: don't think I've ever approached a football ground through a forest before, but then the stadium is called An der Alten Försterei , which I suppose is a bit of a clue. The first thing that strikes you is the scarves. Everyone has one. At an English game, a few kids might have scarves, some will have team shirts, but quite a lot of people won't wear colours at all. Here there is a much more open display of allegiance by virtually everyone in the crowd. We are still outside the stadium. Groups of people stand round talking, drinking beer and eating sausages (this is Germany after all). There is a sociability here that is unfamiliar. People have arrived a good hour before kick-off, to spend time gathering in a way that is rare before an English league match. Having duly eaten our br

" Looking Through the Cross " is the title of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book for 2014, which I wrote last year, and was published a little while ago. Here is a small excerpt from the Introduction. The book can be bought on Amazon here .  Looking is something we do all the time. From the moment we wake in the morning until we close our eyes before sleep at night, if we have the precious gift of sight, we spend all of our days looking at things. It is so natural a part of our lives that we barely consider it. It is the kind of action, like breathing or talking, that occurs unconsciously, without our noticing that we are doing it. At this very moment you are looking at this page, or perhaps a screen, if you happen to be reading this as an e-book. If you look up from where you are sitting or standing, as no doubt you will in a moment, to take a break from the concentrated focus of reading, you will be able to look at a whole range of things, people, buildings, l