Comments by the leader of the Scottish Christian Party on the secular, scientific, political and ecclesiastical scene and the application of Christianity to public life.
I propose an easier argument for the existence of God than you have probably heard so far. There are a few standard arguments for the existence of God, but not everyone can understand them. They are known as the ontological argument (the most perfect Being necessitates His existence), the teleological argument (design and fine-tuning implies …
Continue reading Extraordinary providences and the existence of God
The rapprochement between the apostatizing Church of England and the Roman Catholic papacy is reaching a tipping point. The first point in King Charles III's message to the nation today was that he and Camilla "were delighted to make a state visit to the Vatican where we prayed with pope Leo in a historic moment …
Democratic voting is not the answer to "holding the line", whether it is ecclesiastical, political or secular. Democracy works when the loser accepts the result of a vote, but accepting defeat has been abandoned in recent decades. Donald Trump had no sooner won his first term in office as the US President when protests began …
Protest and Reform are current political themes. These terms were commonly used in the 16th-century European Reformation and by the Protestantism associated with it. That Reform was a religious movement that continues to the present day, but modern protest and Reform are political movements, with secularism undergirding them. Revolution can also be thrown into this …
Surely most of us want competent Government. When will BBC Panorama make a programme on the incompetence of the UK Government under Sir Keir Starmer and of the SNP Scottish Administration? Why do I ask? Because it has just made a programme about the USA's Trump Government, apparently to warn or at least inform its …
Who are the 144,000 mentioned in the Book of Revelation? "I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." Revelation 7:4 The Book of Revelation is a mystery to most people. Although we are told …
"As Jesus sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matthew 24:3 My last blogpost looked at Jesus' teaching on the current and future character of His …
Jesus spoke this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and five were foolish. While the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept." Gospel of Matthew 25:1-2,5 This describes the Christian church at present – some are …
Some of Jesus' quotations are well-known, such as: "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's", but people do not sufficiently appreciate how extraordinary are Jesus' answers. This was not simply a comment but it was a quick-fire answer to the Pharisees who set out to entangle …
Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who read the Book of Revelation Rev 1:3, but many people do not read the Bible at all. Of those who do, many find the Book of Revelation too difficult to read and give up, far less to study it. So why should they read and study it, and …
Continue reading The danger of not studying the Book of Revelation
False beliefs among scientists, politicians and opinion-makers is having detrimental effects on public health and education. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry into the 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic highlighted a culture of secrecy in the UK Cabinet Office at the beginning of the pandemic. The evidence to the Inquiry demonstrated false beliefs among those at the highest level …
Seventh-Day Adventism has many errors but the fundamental one which keeps it separate from mainstream Christianity is boldly declared in its name. It does not observe the Christian Sabbath on the first day of the week, when Jesus rose from the dead, but it continues to observe the seventh-day sabbath. There are other groups who …
Jehovah’s Witnesses are very zealous with door-to-door evangelism. They will usually engage people with their views about God's kingdom on Earth, and they call their meeting houses Kingdom Halls. However, they have a fundamental error. They do not believe that Jesus Christ is God. They believe that the Son of God is the first and …
Continue reading Jehovah’s Witnesses and their fundamental error
The wicked need to know what awaits them after death, in the hope that they will change their minds and behaviour while they still have time. The Bible tells us: "I saw a great white throne, and Him Who sat on it ... I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the …
I got a surprise last night when I heard about another hypothesis on the origin to our Universe. In short, it describes a proposal for future study that our Universe is contained and restrained within a black hole of a larger ‘parent Universe’, published recently in the journal Physical Review D. This might contradict the …
"Enter in at the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many going into it." Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:13. In this concluding part of His Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus warns us against "Broadway Christianity". This is not a warning …
The Way to Heaven is not by "being good", or by "going to church". Too often the church gets in the way, instead of helping you to find the Way. The Way to Heaven is not religion, philosophy or "living a good life". Jesus said to the ecclesiastical lawyers: “Woe unto you, lawyers! for you …
The 16th-century European Reformation was a reformation from the blind faith expected by Roman Catholicism. Blind faith is believing something because someone else has said it, rather than examining the evidence for oneself. It is encouraged by dogmaticians, who regularly use "proof by assertion" to "establish" their point. Instead of believing what the Roman Catholic …
Today the Scottish Parliament will debate an Assisted Dying Bill promoted by Liam McArthur, a Lib Dem MSP. It is the first of several parliamentary stages, which can be viewed here. The debate can be viewed live and retrospectively. The death culture – from birthdays to manmade deathdays. Why are people so ready to rush …
I have posted this at 3 pm. Exactly 80 years ago today, on 8 May 1945, at 15:00 British Summer Time, the British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill announced Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, ending the Second World War in Europe. This date is known as VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day. Some veterans are …
In Presbyterianism it is common to hear of church assemblies being described as church courts. Why? This terminology promotes legalistic thinking, and this is too commonly found in dealing with cases of conscience or cases of discipline. This legal thinking needs to be balanced with the biblical teaching about office-bearers in the Church of Christ: …
Many people want nothing to do with religion, but politics will introduce them to religion whether they want it or not. Do they recognize this, and can they recognize the difference between false and true religion? Today's cataclysmic results in the English Council elections showed not only that Reform UK is breaking the two-party dominance …
This morning, the world's media focussed on the Roman Catholic funeral mass, known as a Requiem Mass, for Francis, the recently deceased and the first former-Jesuit to become pope in Rome. Roman Jesuitism was much in evidence to those who could recognize it. Presiding Roman cardinal Giovanni Battista Re read a homily saying that the …
It is a poor reflection on worldly love that the average length of a marriage that falls apart in England and Wales is about a dozen years. Birds of a feather flock together, but these worldly lovebirds fly apart. Those who claimed to love each other, and then lose it so quickly, need to learn …
I have previously made a blogpost on the spirit of the Tory Party. Little has changed in this Party since then. Today, I am constrained to draw attention to the spirit of the UK Labour Party, lest anyone should think that I consider it to be any better. Its spirit is different from the Tory …
I have often said that we need a Christian Voice in public life. However, my experience is that very few people know what this means, including Christians. I am 70 years old today and I have been involved latterly in Christian politics for almost 20 years. Many Christians in the UK do not know what Christian …
There are a number of documentaries on the Clan Chiefs who used to run Scotland in days of yore. They still exist as nominal chiefs of the Scottish clans. However, the self-aggrandisement that is natural to the human heart ensures that Scotland and other nations continue to have their clan chiefs, for better or for …
Secularism is a worldview that wishes and aims to abolish religion from public life and, if it can succeed, from private life also. Richard Dawkins wants to stop religious people having the "privilege of access to the levers of power and to the megaphones of influence". He has also called teaching Christianity to one's own …
Today is the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, the complex of German Nazi concentration and extermination camps during World War II. Each anniversary since 2005 is now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Bible has much to say about violence. Many people do not read the Bible, so they do not know …
With the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America today, in the 60th US Presidential Inauguration ceremony, people have noticed his influence through his mere election to the most powerful civil office in the world. Trump's first days as the President-elect has had significant effects. Before Donald Trump …
Today, I remember my late brother's birthday. He passed away a few years ago, beating me in our race towards heaven. The life of the godly is a long-distance race. The finishing line is in heaven. The apostle Paul speaks about it in Heb 12:1-2. The point he makes is that racers keep their eye …
There is a saying: "You won't miss the water till the well runs dry." Britain's wells are running dry. The caring professions are running dry, which many now view simply as jobs without a sense of vocation. Speaking truth is running dry in politics and public life Isa 59:14. Christian conscience is seeping away from …
Donald's Thoughts 