The Labour Party is in danger of repeating the mistake of the Lib Dems. When the Lib Dem Party in alliance with the Tories after the 2010 General Election broke its pledge not to raise tuition fees, it led to electoral decimation, collapsing from 57 to 8 MPs in the House of Commons in the …
Those who think that religion and politics do not mix
There are those who think that religion and politics don't mix. The truth is that their religion and their politics don't mix. However, Christianity and politics mix quite easily together, and it is Christianity which gave us western democracy as we understand it and delivered us from religious dogmatism. Religion and politics are two features …
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What is the Establishment Principle?
The Establishment Principle is that biblical principle which states that God is sovereign over secular and ecclesiastical affairs, and that He has established a relationship between these two sovereign spheres in which the state and the church are to acknowledge each other as divinely-appointed institutions, to mutually support and encourage each other, but not to …
My two Inverness landladies
One of my Inverness chapters came to an end this afternoon. I stood by the open grave of Isabel Margaret Grant (1927-2018), the first of my two landladies when I was a student for the Christian ministry during two years 1980-1982 in Inverness. On the gravestone were the names of her parents, above her brother …
The illiberal Liberal Democrat leader
Vince Cable wants to force the UK to remain in the European Union. "Brexit is not inevitable. It can and it must be stopped." He makes it clear what he wants, and why he wants a final people's vote on Brexit. It is not a desire to give a new choice to the people but …
The ark of the covenant and the third temple
There is a movement afoot among orthodox Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and to this end they have been looking for a red heifer without blemish to dedicate the temple. Although there have been discredited claims in recent decades, yet there are rumours that a suitable red heifer has been found and that …
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The archbishop’s poor politics
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, told the TUC on Wednesday that “the Bible is political from one end to the other.” The problem is that Welby is a poor politician. He condemned zero-hour contracts, the gig economy and Amazon in particular for not paying sufficient taxes in the UK. Since then it has transpired …
Celebrating a grand lady
There have been a few ladies in my life. The first one was my beloved mother, and I suppose I need to mention my two sisters who knocked the awkward corners off my teenage life. The grand lady in my life is my good lady, Elizabeth, the Home Secretary, His Master's Voice and She Who …
A better nature than the one with which you were born
When will the study of human behaviour teach people that each human being needs a radical change of spirit? How many more examples of social media messages full of hate, personal and corporate scandals, and human trafficking and child abuse do we need to hear before people will realise that human nature needs to be …
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Wisdom’s role in the Scheme of Redemption
‘By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities’ Isa 53:11. This text shows that whereas God the Father initiates redemption, yet the scheme or manner of redemption is the prerogative of God the Son. In a past eternity, God the Father gave an innumerable number of sinners to …
