The term "brotherly love" came to prominence with the Christian Gospel. Prior to this, the Greeks and Romans practised infanticide, rape and violence as a matter of form. Jesus introduced brotherly love as a new Christian commandment, by which they would know His disciples Jn 13:34-35. It is a premium mark of the godly. It …
Category: Behaviour
The future for Scottish Presbyterianism
There is a debate about the future of Presbyterian churches in Scotland. The debate is inadequate because it does not begin with Scripture but with historical and theological analysis, presumably to detect where things went wrong in order to put them right. There is certainly a role for this, but the cure should arise from …
Inadequate Presbyterian debate
I have often complained about the poor quality of debate in public discussion and also among Christians. My forth-coming publication about the Book of Job draws attention to this perennial, long-standing human failure. Intelligent, informed debate is essential for progress and community cohesion. As long as the Presbyterian church is unable to debate properly or …
Presbyterian prejudices
I have recently published a few blogposts on Presbyterianism. I am familiar with other branches of Christ's visible church and I critique many unbiblical doctrines promoted by these, but zugological balance necessitates the critique of those that are nearer home. I have already done so with evangelical errors but Presbyterianism itself needs not only a …
Andy Burnham is not Prime Ministerial material
The title of this blogpost has been almost superceded by the shocking unilateral behaviour of Britain's first Roman catholic Prime Minister. I had intended to draw attention to his manifest inadequacy as leader of this country, but his latest move only serves to show how much of a puppet he is, moved by others to …
Continue reading Andy Burnham is not Prime Ministerial material
Stolen Babies and Forced Adoption
Tonight, at 9:00 p.m. on BBC Scotland, Stolen Babies is a documentary on the Forced Adoption scandal in the UK. It will also be broadcast tomorrow on BBC2 at 9:00 p.m. and it has been available on BBC iPlayer since yesterday. Forced Adoption is a countrywide scandal that was imposed upon 250,000 mothers in the …
The Reformation of Presbyterianism
Current Presbyterianism needs a Reformation as surely as Roman catholicism needed it in the 16th century, and still needs it in the 21st century. Roman catholicism never learned from the Protestant Reformation, but instead it battened down the hatches and carried on worse than before. This is a natural reaction, and not many people learn …
The spirit and form of Presbyterianism
If you ask what Presbyterianism is, you may be told that that it is a form of church government in which the church is structured in a hierarchical manner with lower courts subordinate to higher courts until a General Assembly oversees them all. This is inadequate. This describes the form, not the substance nor the …
The religion of politics
There are many forms of religion in the world. The religion of politics is preached by politicians who promise equality, justice and peace on Earth and young people are duped into believing them. This is not a religion about the salvation of one's soul but about the improvement of one's bodily and social conditions. Many …
BBC standards slipping
Many people will be aware about the attacks on BBC impartiality. This is probably one factor in the falling numbers of TV licence holders. The rules about the licence fee. Various scandals have not helped the public perception of the Corporation, from the top downwards. When veteran John Humphrys retired from the BBC flagship Today …
